Project of the Month: Airport Plazas holds grand opening for JFK International Airport redevelopment project

Jericho, NY-based Airport Plazas held its grand opening for its latest airport project at JFK International Airport. The company has built a business by specializing in airport non-terminal retail development. Airport Plazas believes that the biggest misconception is that because there are no rooftops there can't be a strong retail demand. An airport like JFK has 50,000 people working around the clock and manages 50 million passengers a year. Airport Plazas has leased a total of 5.75 acres from the Port Authority of NY/NJ. The property had three buildings, two of which were razed and the main 20,000 s/f building was gutted and renovated. "We looked at the building that pre-dated the airport itself, and were amazed by quality of construction used for the 1930's Green Line bus terminal," said George Abi Zeid, president & CEO of Airport Plazas. The newly renovated building now offers a 7-Eleven, Wendy's, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Max's Pizza, Dry Cleaning, Auto Repair, and the company is in negotiations for a bank branch. Airport Plazas adds free Wi-Fi, phone charging, flight information boards and over 200 parking spaces. "Having spent over a year working on this project at JFK, it quickly became clear that JFK was lacking a Main St. - JFK now has a Main St.," said Stefano Pascucci, executive vice president of business development. Airport Plazas states that the plaza has exceeded their projections. The company reports that within the first 90 days there already more than 5,000 visitors per day and that the number has been growing by 10% per month. "It is always fun to see foreign travelers taking pictures and posting them on social media" said Pascucci. The construction took twelve months to complete and in addition to the main plaza building the facility provides an extra large Sunoco fueling center with a dedicated high speed truck fueling area, and alternative fuels such as E-85, CNG by Clean Energy and Superchargers by Tesla. "We are proud to offer the most alternative fuels under one roof for at least 100 miles," said Zeid. The company currently operates at Newark Airport, and Indianapolis with Ft. Myers opening next month and seven more airports across the country in development. Project Team: Aventura Construction: General Contractor Netta Architects: Architect MC Sign Company: Signage Empire National Bank: Financing Elite Action Fire Extinguishing: Fire Suppression Etna Prestige Technology, Inc.: HVAC A&O Painters: Painting