Three years after plans were scrapped to bring a national pharmacy to Brooklyn, the growing area could be close to securing one.
Downtown Investment Authority CEO Aundra Wallace said Regency Centers Corp. — the developer responsible for much of the retail in that area — and the unnamed pharmacy are entering what he called final negotiations to bring the store to the area.
Once those two sides are satisfied, Wallace said the DIA has a plan that essentially would swap land with Regency Centers for the project.
The city would provide what’s known as the “jughandle parcels” bordered by Riverside Avenue and May and Leila streets to house the pharmacy. Those parcels have an appraised value of $400,000, according to the DIA.
In exchange, Regency Centers would contribute land valued at $288,000 for a surface parking lot for the area. The DIA would first lease that back to Regency Centers for $1 a year for 10-20 years before taking it over. Wallace said that would provide much-needed parking for the area.
In the end, the city would get a private business that contributes about $46,000 in property taxes a year, almost $25,000 of which would go to the city.
It’s not the first time a pharmacy was proposed for the area.
When the retail center anchored by The Fresh Market was planned for the area in 2013, a pharmacy was part of the project. However, design issues and the area’s relative newness caused the pharmacy, later identified as CVS, to pull out.
Wallace said given the success and residential infill of the area the past several years, the “timing is right” at this point.
“There is a real true market demand now for the pharmacy,” said Wallace. “This is not a speculation situation.”
Wallace said if negotiations are successful, his hope would be to introduce the plan to the DIA board this summer.
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