Discount retail giant Century 21 has cut a deal to bring Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall its first new department store in more than five decades, officials said today.
The chain will serve as the anchor tenant for City Point, a towering retail and residential development going up at Dekalb and Flatbush avenues that will replace the old Albee Square mall.
Developer Acadia Realty Trust this summer is set to break ground of City Point’s second phase, including a 125,000-square-foot space that will house Century 21. The new store is expected to open in 2015 and will be more than twice the size of Century 21’s Bay Ridge location.
City officials say they believe Century 21’s decision to anchor City Point illustrates how far Fulton Mall has come the past few years in ridding its reputation as a place saturated with 99-cent stores and fast-food restaurants.
Recent arrivals include H & M, Shake Shack, Gap, Aeropostale, Aldo, and Express.
“City Point is an important centerpiece in the continued resurgence of Downtown Brooklyn — the fastest growing downtown in America,” said Tucker Reed, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. “The addition of Century 21 continues the diversification of retailers on Fulton Mall and reverses the trend of department stores leaving the area.”
The long-stalled City Point project was hit hard by the national credit crunch in 2008 and only broke ground in 2010 after receiving a $20 million stimulus bailout from the federal government.
When fully built, it will rise as high as 65 stories and include 675,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and 690 apartments.