By Kathianne Boniello
For more than a year a large white sign with red letters loomed over a pair of vacant lots near 194th Street on Northern Boulevard in Auburndale, promising retail development “coming soon.”
Last year the sign said the empty land would be built on by the fall of 2000. Earlier this year it was altered to read “by 2001.”
With autumn just around the corner, large cranes now dominate one of the properties and copies of city work permits are plastered across the tall plywood fence, signaling the long-awaited arrival of construction.
A spokesman for the city Buildings Department said partial work plans were filed with the agency for the one of the two vacant lots, which are next door to St. Nicholas’ Church in Auburndale.
Construction is underway on one lot between 194th and 195th streets, while the property between 195th and 196th streets still appears abandoned and overgrown with weeds.
The plans filed by the property owner, Pat Pescatore of Green Hill Development in Manhasset, L.I., call for a two-story building with a basement parking garage, Buildings Department spokesman Paul Wein said.
Pescatore did not return a call for comment by press time Tuesday.
“They haven’t finished filing yet,” Wein said.
Of the plans already filed with the city, Wein said the basement parking garage would feature a 51-space parking lot with an attendant, a first floor with retail outlets and offices on the first and second floors.
As development gets under way on the long-neglected Auburndale lot, an Amoco gas station a little more than a mile away on Northern Boulevard in Bayside was shuttered for renovations last week.
The city Board of Standards and Appeals recently approved a variance previously defeated by Community Board 11 in Little Neck for the gas station to add a full-sized convenience store, a spokeswoman for CB 11 said Tuesday. Votes by community boards are considered advisory, and the city is not required to follow them.
The large Amoco station on the corner of Northern Boulevard and 219th Street, which featured about 10 pumps and a tiny convenience area, was entirely closed off by a large chain link fence last week in preparation for the new construction.
Yellow police tape blocked off the gas pumps and all signs of life at the gas station were temporarily gone.
CB 11 District Manager Anne Marie Boranian said construction was about to begin at the station, where a 2,900-square-foot convenience store is to be built.
In October 2000 Community Board 11 in Little Neck unanimously rejected the variance application to expand the Amoco station at 218-01 Northern Blvd. A spokesman for Amoco told the board at the time the company was seeking a larger convenience store and an additional gasoline pump station. The applicant also asked to rearrange the curb cuts near on the large property.
Several neighbors spoke out against the station during last year’s meeting. The station is on the northern side of Northern Boulevard, complaining about fumes, noise, and litter. Those who spoke said the station had been a bad neighbor and not adhered to requests to limit the use of vacuums at night and keep the property clean.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
