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Kings Plaza

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Kings Plaza Shopping Center
Company typeRetail complex
IndustryRetail
FoundedSeptember 1970; 56 years ago (1970-09)
Headquarters
Brooklyn, New York City
,
United States
Area served
Brooklyn, New York City
ProductsRetail stores, specialty shops, anchor stores
OwnerMacerich
Number of employees
4200

Kings Plaza Shopping Center

Kings Plaza Shopping Center, commonly known as Kings Plaza, is a retail complex situated in the Mill Basin neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. The shopping center opened its doors in September 1970 and occupies the southeast corner at the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, positioned just north of Floyd Bennett Field.

The mall hosts well-established anchor stores such as Target, Burlington, Primark, and Macy's. Additionally, it offers a variety of notable specialty retailers including Cotton On, Sephora, Guess, Zara, Michael Kors, H&M, and Forever 21. Initially developed through a partnership between Macy's and Alexander's, Kings Plaza is now owned and operated by Macerich.

Boasting more than 120 shops and providing around 4,200 retail-related jobs, Kings Plaza holds the distinction of being Brooklyn’s largest enclosed shopping facility.

Description

Kings Plaza is situated on the southern side of Avenue U, spanning the area between Flatbush Avenue to the west and East 58th Street to the east. The shopping center covers a total of 23 acres. The main section of the mall extends from Flatbush Avenue to East 55th Street and features two levels of retail space, alongside the Macy's and the former Sears/Alexander's anchor buildings, each rising four stories. Both anchors offer approximately 330,000 square feet of floor area. At the southern edge of this block, there is a multi-story parking structure accessible via northbound Flatbush Avenue and East 55th Street. This garage was constructed with specialized prestressed concrete columns and accommodates nearly 4,000 vehicles.

The eastern block is exclusively occupied by a Lowe's store and its adjacent parking lot; before Lowe's was built, this entire block served as parking space. At the far eastern boundary of the property, reaching East 58th Street, lies Mill Basin Plaza—a separate retail complex under Kimco Realty ownership—housing stores such as The Home Depot, Walgreens, and Petland Discounts.

Unlike many malls across the United States where parking is complimentary, visitors to Kings Plaza, similar to most New York City malls, must pay for parking within the garage.

Mill Basin Inlet borders the mall to the east and south, creating a natural separation from the Mill Basin neighborhood. Alongside the perimeter of the parking garage sits Kings Plaza Marina, originally designed to enable customers to arrive by boat.

The mall includes its own rooftop cogeneration facility known as the Kings Plaza Total Energy Plant. This plant operates four natural gas engines manufactured by Deutz AG to fulfill all of the mall’s electricity requirements. Waste heat from these engines is harnessed for both heating and cooling purposes within the building. As part of recent environmental initiatives, Macerich has integrated an interconnection allowing up to 6 megawatts of surplus electricity to be supplied back to the local Con Edison grid during peak demand periods, especially in summer months. When initially constructed alongside the mall, this plant utilized five diesel engines produced by Nordberg Manufacturing Company.

Kings Plaza bus terminal

Shortly after the mall's 1970 debut, the New York City Transit Authority responded to Brooklyn residents’ requests by introducing a new bus transfer system. This change allowed shoppers to avoid paying an additional fare when traveling to Kings Plaza, predating the city's eventual elimination of all double fares by several years.

Kings Plaza quickly evolved into a key bus terminal for local routes. The Template:NYC bus link and Template:NYC bus link operate from a dedicated terminal located on the Flatbush Avenue side of the mall. Meanwhile, the Template:NYC bus link and Template:NYC bus link make stops at intermediate points near the mall, and the Template:NYC bus link concludes its route at the Avenue U entrance.[1][2][3][4] In 2005, the bus terminal underwent significant renovations.[5][1] Due to construction beginning in April 2017, B2 and B9 buses have been terminating at the northeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, utilizing the existing Q35 stop.[6]

The nearest subway access points are the Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College station (Template:NYCS trains) on the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line located in Midwood, along with the Avenue U (Template:NYCS trains) and Kings Highway stations (Template:NYCS trains) on the BMT Brighton Line, situated in Sheepshead Bay and Midwood respectively.[2]

Construction

File:Kings Plaza Macys jeh.JPG
Kings Plaza as viewed from the intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U in 2008. Since then, Best Buy has opened on the right side of the image, and the exterior has undergone renovations.

Before Kings Plaza was developed, the location served as a petroleum storage site operated by Standard Oil dating back to the 1930s. Subsequently, the area housed a plastics manufacturing company and an automobile repair garage.[7][8][9] In 1965, the department store chain Alexander's revealed plans to establish a new retail outlet at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, aiming to extend its presence into Southeast Brooklyn in response to growing residential neighborhoods in Flatlands and Canarsie. At that time, Alexander's was competing with E. J. Korvette for a store location in this vicinity.[10][11] By 1966, the shopping center was conceived as a collaborative project between Macy's and Alexander's.[12]

The groundbreaking ceremony for Kings Plaza took place on July 8, 1968, with Alexander's president Alexander S. Farkas and Macy's president David L. Yunich leading the event. Mayor John Lindsay and Brooklyn Borough President Abe Stark also participated.[13] Funding for this development was secured through John Hancock Financial.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name As part of constructing the mall, major improvements were made to Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U, including widening Flatbush south of Utica Avenue to its present dimensions. Additionally, a bus terminal along Flatbush Avenue was constructed concurrently with the mall.[3]

Opening and early history

Kings Plaza Shopping Center commenced operations in September 1970, shortly following Labor Day, featuring an initial lineup of 79 retailers. Among these was the debut location for the pizzeria chain Sbarro. Alongside the mall's launch, a two-screen movie theater began serving patrons, while plans were underway for a marina on Mill Basin to open the following year. Notably, Kings Plaza was the first fully enclosed and air-conditioned shopping center within New York City. In response to concerns about increased traffic congestion, local residents took action by blocking adjacent side streets to prevent overflow into residential neighborhoods. Within just one year, the mall expanded its retail offerings to include 125 stores. Three years later, Cooky's Steak Pub inside the mall introduced Brooklyn’s first professional dinner-theater experience. During its first decade, Kings Plaza saw a steady rise in visitor numbers; although official attendance figures were not released, by 1983 daily vehicle entries through the parking lot reached approximately 20,000, generating $12 million annually in sales tax revenue from its 150 shops. Despite this success, both customers and merchants raised alarms about theft incidents, prompting an increase in the mall’s private security personnel that same year.

Initially, parking at Kings Plaza was complimentary for shoppers. However, in mid-1983, mall management proposed implementing a 50-cent parking fee starting October of that year to fund facility improvements and bolster security services. The announcement elicited mixed reactions among shoppers, while local residents strongly opposed the charge, resulting in delays to its rollout. As the fee's start date approached, community leaders organized demonstrations against it. When the parking charge was finally enacted in January 1984, it lasted only four days before city authorities ordered a suspension pending an environmental impact study. Later that month, after assessments by the Departments of Environmental Protection and Buildings found no negative consequences, the parking fee was reinstated and collected upon exit from the lot.

In 1985, Macy's sold half of its ownership stake in Kings Plaza to Alexander's, which subsequently acquired full ownership by 1998. Following Alexander's bankruptcy filing in 1992 and closure of all its stores—including the Kings Plaza location—the property remained vacant until 1997 when Sears occupied the space. While Sears’ arrival was anticipated to rejuvenate Kings Plaza’s retail environment, concerns persisted regarding competition from emerging Brooklyn shopping destinations such as Atlantic Terminal, the Fulton Street pedestrian mall, and Flatbush’s commercial district. Meanwhile, Alexander's real estate assets, including Kings Plaza, continued under management by an affiliate of Vornado Realty Trust.

21st century

File:KingsPlazaAtrium.jpg
The central atrium features a double-sided, rotating video display.

Starting in May 1999, a $50 million refurbishment initiative commenced, which introduced a new glass entrance on Flatbush Avenue along with enhancements to the mall's interior.[14] By approximately 2002,[15][8] plans were made by the mall's proprietors to add an extension on the parking area east of East 55th Street. Initially, this expansion was designed to contribute an additional 100,000 square feet, including a home improvement retailer, a multiplex cinema replacing the original theater, and indoor parking facilities.[15][7] Proposals for such a development on this site had been in consideration since 1997.[16]

The parking lot was shut down around mid-2003 to prepare for this enlargement.[17] Two years later, Lowe's committed to occupying the home improvement store space.[16] The proposed expansion encountered resistance from local residents concerned about potential traffic increases.[15][7] Additionally, accusations were made against developers Vornado Realty Trust (successors of Alexander's) and the New York City Department of City Planning, alleging they conspired to limit community awareness regarding the project's advancement.[17] Due to this opposition, the developers scaled back the expansion plan to only include the Lowe’s store.[7][16] Construction activities commenced in 2009,[16][18] and Lowe’s officially opened its doors on July 23, 2010.[19] The original tenant AMC Loews cinema ceased operations in January of the same year.[20] Subsequent remodeling transformed the former theater space into a new Best Buy outlet.[21]

File:Kings Plaza Marina jeh.JPG
Parking structure and marina at Kings Plaza

In May of 2012, it was revealed that Alexander's/Vornado intended to divest Kings Plaza along with its other enclosed mall assets.[22] Five months later, Macerich announced its acquisition of Kings Plaza in a transaction finalized by year-end.[23][24] Following Macerich’s takeover, Kings Plaza underwent extensive renovations encompassing updates to the parking structure, exterior facade improvements including signage upgrades, and refurbishment of interior common spaces and aesthetics.[25]

In September of 2016, Macerich declared that the Sears department store at Kings Plaza would close and be redeveloped to accommodate Primark and Zara.[25][26] Later announcements revealed that Burlington would launch a large store in mid-2018 within Sears’ former fourth-floor office areas,[27] while JCPenney inaugurated a multilevel 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2) new-format store occupying part of the former Sears location in August of that year.[28] On July 7, 2020 JCPenney announced closure plans for its Kings Plaza location as part of a nationwide shutdown of roughly 250 stores amid its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings; this store shuttered on September 27 of the same year.[29] Subsequently in late 2021,Target Corporation opened a new outlet occupying JCPenney’s former space.[30] By the mid‑2020s there were eleven vacant retail units within the mall and foot traffic had dropped considerably compared to earlier decades.[31]

Incidents

On December 26, 2013, the mall was forced to close after several hundred teenagers attacked shoppers and caused extensive property damage. The disturbance started around 5 p.m.[32] and persisted until the mall's closure at 7 p.m. In response, a temporary policy was implemented prohibiting unaccompanied minors from entering.[32] Although one teenage girl was taken into custody, she was not formally charged.[33] Fortunately, no fatalities or serious injuries resulted from the event.[34] Reports indicated that the chaos was orchestrated as a violent flash mob coordinated through social media platforms,[35][34] with the intent to carry out what was described as the largest "knockout game" incident worldwide.[35]

On September 17, 2018, a significant fire erupted in the mall’s parking structure, specifically affecting the second and third floors. The blaze escalated to a seven-alarm status, mobilizing between 250 and 300 firefighters. Twenty-one individuals sustained injuries, including eighteen firefighters. Approximately 120 vehicles belonging to a car dealership were parked on the second level at the time. Authorities from the New York City Police Department apprehended a suspect and charged them with arson on the same day.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad nameCite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

A shooting occurred inside Kings Plaza on January 31, 2022, involving a 14-year-old male victim.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Canarsie-KingsPlzBus-2005
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BklynBusMap-Current
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BklynDaily-KingsPlz-Ap1970
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TransAlt-B41-Delays-Jul2003
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYCDOT-KPBus-Jun2005
  6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BklynDaily-KPBusStop-Ap2017
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named TimesLeg-KPExpand-Feb2006
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYDEC-KP-StandardOil-2016
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYTimes-KP-Alexanders-Mar1965
  11. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYTimes-KP-Alexanders-Aug1965
  12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYTimes-KP-July291966
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYTimes-KP-Dedicate-Jul1968
  14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named NYDaily-KP-Facelift-Jan2001
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Canarsie-KPExpand-Sep2003
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  18. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  19. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  20. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  21. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  22. ↑ Nadja Brandt, Bloomberg. "Vornado To Hold Quarterly Calls, Sell Some Retail Centers Archived 2014-08-21 at the Wayback Machine." April 13, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  23. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  24. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  26. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  27. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  28. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  29. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  30. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  31. ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2123: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named cbs-mob
  33. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named dn
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named nyp
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named heavy

External links

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