8 THE QUEENS COURIER • SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
New retail to replace troubled Astoria nightclub
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
An Astoria club that was shut down
aft er repeatedly violating several city
codes will be transformed into a retail
hub by its new owners.
Transition Acquisitions purchased the
one-story property that used to house
Club Purlieu at 36-04 34th St. and is looking
Photo courtesy of CBRE
New school annexes in Woodside and
Sunnyside will replace decades-old trailers
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @AngelaMatua
Queens students are headed back
to school tomorrow and children in
Sunnyside and Woodside will be able to
learn in two brand-new annexes aimed at
alleviating overcrowding.
Th e $92 million annex at P.S. 11 in
Woodside will accommodate 350 students
while the $84 million annex at I.S.
125 in Sunnyside will serve 600 students.
It will also end the schools’ reliance on
classroom trailers.
In 2014, the Department of Education
voted to bus 250 students from P.S. 11
at 54-25 Skillman Ave. to P.S. 171 in
Astoria in order to construct the new
annex.
At I.S. 125, located at 46-02 47th Ave.,
more than 200 seventh-grade students
had to brave the rain and snow to travel
to classroom trailers and a “temporary
mini-building that was erected more
than 20 years ago.
Both spaces add approximately 1,000
new seats to School District 30, which
has struggled with school overcrowding.
Several new schools are slated for construction
including a 600-seat elementary school
in Long Island City. Parents are also calling
for the School Construction Authority to
build a middle school in Sunnyside.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer and
Assemblyman Brian Barnwell toured the
new spaces on Sept. 1, which include
libraries, dance rooms, new technology
and renovated cafeterias.
“Our kids deserve nothing but the best,
and I’m proud of the work we’ve done to
fund and build an unprecedented number
of schools in western Queens,” Van
Bramer said. “Together, these projects
bring nearly 1,000 new seats to alleviate
overcrowding and represent a nearly
$200 million investment in our children,
which is an investment in the
future of our community. I’m grateful to
the parents, faculty and staff , and community
members who have joined in
this fi ght to give all of our children the
space, resources, and tools they need to
succeed.”
A new preschool also opened in the
neighborhood and will serve 180 students.
More than 11,000 residential units
have been constructed in the past 10
years, making the construction of new
schools necessary to accommodate the
new families moving in.
to attract restaurants, coff ee shops
and other “high-end” retailers, according
to Jeremy Scholder, senior associate at
CBRE, the company that handles leasing.
Calling 36th Avenue Astoria’s “restaurant
row,” Scholder said he is in discussion
with “trendy restaurant tenants, coffee
purveyors and roasters, boutique fi tness
type tenants and also some of the
trendier bar concepts as well.”
Dean Rosenzweig, senior vice president
of CBRE, said the owners are aware
of the history of the club and want “Th e
Shoppes at 36th” to bring in “something
that’s going to resonate with the community
in a much more positive way.”
Th e 6,800-square-foot space will be
subdivided into fi ve or six shops that
range from 1,200 to 1,400 square feet.
Developers are also discussing adding
a second fl oor to the property for
community facility space in the form
of a daycare center or medical offi ces,
Scholder said.
Leasing has already begun and they
expect the construction to be open to
the public by summer 2018.
DNAinfo fi rst reported the story.
An old nightclub in Astoria will become a retail development.
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Photo courtesy of Jimmy Van Bramer
Annexes were built at P.S. 11 and I.S. 125 to ease school overcrowding.