Roosevelt Avenue - Woodside

Commercial District

Needs Assessment

Preliminary Findings

OVERVIEW

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Commercial District Needs Assessment

Comprehensive analysis of business conditions along neighborhood commercial corridors

Community Capacity

Existing Organizations

Elected Officials

Physical Environment

Public Realm

Private Realm

Access

Business Environment

Store Density

Tenant Mix

Anchors and Destinations

Market and Demographic

Data

Residential

Non-Residential

Our Objectives: gain an understanding of the economic environment of the corridor and

begin to develop ideas to address community needs. This assessment will help us to:

1. Gage the administrative capacity currently existing in the community

2. Identify physical improvement needs along the corridor

3. Understand consumer and business needs

4. Gain insight on the demographic makeup of target area

METHODOLOGY

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Methods:

• Physical corridor survey and inventory

• 28 merchant surveys

• 108 consumer surveys

• 1 community meeting

Data collection and analysis completed by

Queens Economic Development Corporation

during August 2015 – April 2016

Assessment Area – Roosevelt Avenue Between 57th St. to the west and 70th St. to the east

ABOUT WOODSIDE

• Historically an Irish-dominated neighborhood, over the

last three decades has experienced large influx of Asians and

South American populations

• Working and middle-class population, with a wide range of housing and business types

• Great variety of ethnic restaurants

• Primary commercial corridor, Roosevelt avenue is served by #7 Subway

train (International Express)

NEIGHBORHOOD NODES

• Woodside Library

Woodside Plaza

Carl L Sohncke Square

COMMUNITY EVENTS

• Annual Summer Street Fair May 28th 12 PM – 5 PM

• Worldwide Woodside: A Neighborhood Fest June 4th & June 11th 12 PM – 5 PM

• Memorial Day Street Fair

• Worldwide Woodside Weekend Walks

• Columbus Day Street Fair (October 8)

• Holiday Tree and Street Lighting (Dec.)

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NEIGHBORHOOD PROFILE

COMMUNITY CAPACITY

There are 4 identified active CBOs

within study area (Emerald Isles, NHS,

Adhikaar, WOTM)

Business and workforce related

services available includes: the Annual

Taste of Woodside event promoting

local restaurants by Woodside on the

Move and job search and placement

services provides by Emerald Isles

Immigration Center

Woodside on the move is an

organization with some history of

providing economic development

services and have expressed

increased interest in pursuing

commercial revitalization initiatives

KEY ISSUES & PRIORITIES

-Uninviting physical appearance of

corridor

- Increasing real estate costs

- #7 train service interruptions

- Parking/ Double parking

- Some business types lacking

- Lack of formal merchant organizing entity

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COMMUNITY SUPPORT CAPACITY

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BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

190 commercial storefronts

18 Vacant storefronts (9.5% Vacancy rate)

Stores were determined to be vacant if front gates were down during normal business hours.

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BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Neighborhood Anchor Businesses

Donovan’s Pub

Ottomanellis

Bill’s Cycle Bicycles

Red Ribbon

Pizza Boy

International Chain 11

National Chain 8

Regional Chain 7

Single Store 151

Miscellaneous 12

Grand Total 189

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STOREFRONTS & FAÇADES

Façade Conditions

Generally, storefront façade conditions are erratic throughout the

corridor. There are instances of poor awnings on every block

and few examples of signage uniformity. Awnings and signs are

often too large and too cluttered. At some locations the awnings

are dirty. Other locations consists of groups of awnings that are

overbearing with multi colors, sizes and shapes that creates too

much activity to stand out from each other. The block along

Roosevelt Ave. between 63rd and 64th streets may collectively

have the most facades in good conditions while the last couple

of blocks between 68th and 70th streets may contain the worst

collection of facades.

Average Good Excellent

Poor

Top Business Types

• Restaurants/Bars/Cafes (51)

• Hair/Beauty (20)

• Medical/Health (18)

• Financial/Legal Services (15)

• Groceries/Food Markets (13)

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RETAIL AND SERVICE MIX

The corridor has a high presence of eating

establishments with over fifty restaurants/bars

and cafes. The second most prevalent

business type is Hair/Beauty shops/salons.

Professional services such as legal, financial

and medical services are also well-represented

on the corridor.

What do you like about the Commercial Corridor?

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BUSINESS OUTLOOK

*On average, Respondents have been in business for

about 10 years

* Businesses estimated on average that

90% of their consumers are local.

Top operating challenges

- Rental costs (60%)

- Competition (60%)

- Marketing (36%)

Top corridor improvement needs

- Parking availability/

Traffic circulation (75%)

- Pedestrian experience (43%)

- Types of Stores/ Retail diversity (36%)

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CONSUMER ANALYSIS

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DEMOGRAPHICS

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CONSUMER SPENDING

$1.33 Billion

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CONSUMER SHOPPING PATTERNS

More than 95% of the people

surveyed indicated that they

shop on Roosevelt Avenue at

least once a year. Nearly half

indicated that they shop on the

corridor at least once a week.

About 44% of those shopping

on Roosevelt Ave spends less

than $25 during each shopping

visit. About 33% indicated that

they spend between $25 and

$50. Only about 3% of

shoppers spend over $100 per

visit.

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CONSUMER SHOPPING PATTERNS

Nearly 90% of those

surveyed indicated that they

would shop on Roosevelt

Avenue if the goods and

services that they need is

available.

About half of those surveyed

indicated when they decide

to shop elsewhere it is

because goods/services are

not available or better prices

elsewhere. Others

expressed safety concerns

or uninviting physical

appearance

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RETAIL MIX

Consumer surveys identified a Gym/Fitness center as the business

most would like to see come to the corridor. It should be noted that a

Blink Fitness has opened in the district since the surveys were

conducted. Women Apparel and footwear was also a popular wish for

those surveyed.

The common theme that came up when speaking to

consumers was that the physical appearance and the

availability of products at their preferred price were the main

reasons when they decide to shop elsewhere. A streetscape

beautification plan would be valuable in improving the image

of the corridor.

Another common response was the need for more parking

and better traffic management due to the double parking.

- Design improvements

- Better enforcement

Explore business attraction initiative to bring in high demand

businesses

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WHAT COULD WE DO TO IMPROVE?

Many shoppers and residents are not aware of business promotions or special offers in

the district. A Placemaking/District Marketing campaign that is directly engaging of area

merchants may be a suitable approach to addressing this issue.

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ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS

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PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT &

PUBLIC SPACE REVIEW

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PUBLIC SPACE REVIEW

Sidewalk Conditions

• Overall, sidewalk conditions along the corridor in good shape

• Higher presence of garbage around (60th/61st streets & 69th/70th streets)

Street Lighting

• Due to the elevated train rails, constant shadow

over the corridor. Darkness especially profound

at 61st Underpass.

Amenities

• Bike racks are available on each block

(few on each side); spaced apart avoiding clutter

• Trash cans are available on every corner

Street Furniture

• Benches are available at open space areas, none

exist on sidewalks

• Fair amount of bus shelters which enhances streetscape

Safety & Perceptions of Safety

• Describe qualitative condition along corridor, can include consumer survey results of

“How safe do feel along the corridor”

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

OPEN SPACE PREVIEW

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Hart

Playground

Charles

Steinmann Square Doughboy Plaza

Woodside Plaza

Carl R. Sohncke Square

Lawrence Virgilio

Playground

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

Open Space Review

• Limited amount of open space along Roosevelt Avenue. However there are some quality

open space nearby including Doughboy Plaza and Hart Playground.

• Along Roosevelt Ave. within our target area are Woodside Plaza and Carl R. Sohncke

Square. These are open areas to sit and are well maintained.

Woodside Plaza Carl R. Sohncke Square

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DISTRICT ACCESSIBILITY REVIEW

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Subway Ridership Woodside-61st 2015 2014-2015 Change %Change 2015 Rank

Weekday 17,007 200 1.2% 83

Weekend 20,127 458 2.3% 73

Annual 5,432,682 76,061 1.4% 82

Subway Ridership 69th St. 2015 2014-2015 Change %Change 2015 Rank

Weekday 4,988 -140 -2.7% 298

Weekend 6,557 -384 -5.5% 254

Annual 1,629,526 -55,696 -3.3% 294

Bus Lines

Q32 Q47 Q53

*additional bus options at Roosevelt

& 74th.

Road connections

BQE

Northern Boulevard

Broadway

Queens Boulevard

Traffic Count

STRENGTHS

• - Good mixture of retail chains/franchises and

independent small businesses

- Ethnically diverse mix of businesses

- Large population (customer base)

- Good access to public transit

CHALLENGES

• - Lighting is an issue with elevated train track present;

darkness leads to perception of being an unsafe area

- Lack of Parking; and double parking leads to traffic

delays

- Negative perception of safety

- Some business types are underrepresented

- Rising commercial rents

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SUMMARY ANALYSIS

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DISTRICT IDENTITY & MARKETING

- Promote district via 61st LIRR station stop

with signage/kiosk and materials highlighting local

business destinations (capture foot traffic)

BUSINESS SERVICES

- Provide multilingual business technical assistance

services promoting entrepreneurship

QUALITY OF LIFE / CORRIDOR BEAUTIFICATION

- Add benches/plantings at wider sidewalks

- Storefront Improvement program

- Painting/clean up of 61st st train rails

- Better lighting under 61 St underpass

PLACEMAKING

- Small cultural/civic events at Carl L Sohncke Square

Online marketing platform

CIVIC & ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY - Enhance capacity of Woodside on the move to pursue

and implement commercial revitalization activities

KEY OPPORTUNITIES