Looks like there’s a Trader Joe’s coming to 432-438 E. 14th St. after all
Last October, I asked a Trader Joe’s media rep at the national office if they were opening a store at 432-438 E. 14th St. at Avenue A. The response: “Unfortunately, we do not have any current plans for a store at that location.”Perhaps those current plans weren’t for October … but it sure looks there are plans now here in mid-winter.Yesterday morning, EVG reader Laura H. spotted this truck dropping off various equipment outside the new 8-story luxury rental called EVE… the work was happening in the under-construction retail space on the 14th Street side of the building…… and there is a sign on the supplies…… wait for it…Some history. In May 2017, The Real Deal, citing anonymous sources, reported that Trader Joe’s “quietly signed a lease about two months ago with Mack Real Estate and Benenson Capital Partners … for 8,531 square on the ground floor and 14,170 square feet on the lower level.” However, there wasn’t much else mentioned about this possible new TJ’s location (aside from some TJ clerk gossip that it wasn’t happening) in the ensuing months. Finally, in a preview of EVE last August, City Realty noted: “To the delight of residents and neighbors, Trader Joe’s is the building’s retail tenant.”Still, a few months later, Trader Joe’s said there weren’t plans for this location.A map on the EVE website shows a Trader Joe’s here…It’s also now mentioned in the “East Village Life” section that lists nearby restaurants and stores. Per the EVE site: “Although with a Trader Joe’s in the building, you may not need to go too far.”Trader Joe’s is reportedly tight-lipped about its operations … which apparently includes information about new locations, and likes to have store buildout details worked out before announcing a target opening date, as the Lo-Down has noted.From the look of it, the retail space at EVE has some work left before it’s retail ready. It will be curious to see what impact this might have on the Associated directly across the street as well as the food-heavy Target a few hundred feet to the east. Meanwhile, leasing continues at EVE, where the residential entrance is at 433 E. 13th St. between Avenue A and First Avenue. This development is on the site of the onetime Peter Stuyvesant Post Office (1951-2014).Previously on EV Grieve:UPDATED: Did you hear the rumor about the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office branch closing?Former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office slated to be demolishedThe former Peter Stuyvesant Post Office will yield to an 8-story residential buildingAll about EVE, the Peter Stuyvesant Post Office-replacing rentals on 14th StreetClaim: A Trader Joe’s won’t be coming to new development at 14th and A after allTrader Joe’s: No current plans for grocery at 432-438 E. 14th St.
