Modern glass structure may replace old Mobil station

The site of the old Third Avenue Mobil gas station, now utilized as a parking lot for the two-years-young Brooklyn Market, may soon be the home of a modern, gleaming glass structure.

A design for the approximately 100 by 110-foot lot at 8101 Third Avenue showing a three-level, approximately 20,000-square-foot retail space, with 94 attended parking spaces included, can be seen on the website of the leasing agent, CPEX Real Estate.

The plan may not be set in stone, said Merchants of Third Avenue President Robert Howe, who told this paper, “I think that is more of a rendering of what it could be, not so much necessarily what it will be. I think it’s more promotional than it is actual.”

Nonetheless, Howe was enthusiastic about what he has seen so far. “Of course, we would love to see the parking stay there because of the lack of parking in Bay Ridge, plus it is a big asset for Brooklyn Market – which we love, they’re a good merchant – but we do realize that developed lots are much more valuable than undeveloped lots,” Howe said.

“The property owner probably wants to maximize his or her profit and we would hope that, when the development does come, there will be attractive retail on the street level and a low-rise apartment building over it, keeping in line with the general profile of Third Avenue, which is generally three-story buildings,” he went on.

Once home to the gas station, the 11,000-square-foot lot was vacant from 2011, when Mobil closed, until it was paved over by Brooklyn Market in time for its opening in 2012.

Under existing zoning, the maximum height of any building on the site is 50 feet.

By press time, efforts to reach the property owner were unsuccessful.