Trader Joe’s Set to Open Another 14th Street Store
By Rebecca Baird-Remba May 26, 2017 2:43 pm
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A decade after opening its first outpost in the bottom of a New York University dorm at 142 East 14th Street in Union Square, Trader Joe’s is opening another store on East 14th Street in the East Village.
The healthy grocery chain inked a deal two months ago for 22,701 square feet in a new rental building at 432 East 14th Street, which replaces a post office between First Avenue and Avenue A. The store will occupy 8,531 square feet on the ground floor and 14,170 square feet on the lower level, according to The Real Deal, which first reported news of the lease. The new Trader Joe’s is scheduled to open in the second half of 2018, per a press release from the market.
Developers Mack Real Estate Group and Benenson Capital Partners said they expect to earn $2.3 million per year in retail rent for the grocery store’s space, which works out to roughly $150 a square foot, according to a Board of Standards and Appeals filing cited by TRD. But it wasn’t immediately clear if Trader Joe’s agreed to that rent.
The building at 432 East 14th Street will stand eight stories and hold 113 units, of which 23 will be below-market-rate apartments. The developers recently faced steep opposition from neighbors because they wanted to build four stories taller than zoning typically allows and add 42 more apartments.
Trader Joe’s was in talks to take space in Extell Development’s project a block east at 500 East 14th Street, which consists of two seven-story rental buildings with 150 apartments. Target inked a 30-year deal for a 23,000-square-foot store there, Commercial Observer reported last year. The development still has 14,300 square feet of retail available.
