Build it, and they will shop

Demand exceeds supply for space in Forest Hills

...shoppers keep coming to Forest Hills' tony Austin St., and they bring merchants to the street, say community leaders and real estate execs.

Demand for an Austin street address, say those familiar with the scene, has pushed rents to near Manhattan levels. Chris Collett, (executive director of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce) compared Austin St. to Madison Ave-"a mix of neighborhood shopping strip and international mall."

Window shopping along the three quarter mile stretch of Austin St. between Ascan Ave and Yellowstone Blvd can turn up small mom-and-pop shops...mixed in with gourmet shops, upscale fashion outlets as well as regional and national retailers.

"It's always been a good quality street," said Manny Fuhrman, director of leasing for real estate giant Muss Development, which two years ago brought a Barnes and Noble superstore and a Starbucks Coffee to the western half of Austin, and added a TGIFriday's restaurant and Creativity nearby.

"It has a good mix of people," he said, "They're affluent; they have money."

Muss is negotiating to bring a national name-brand men's clothing store to the street, Fuhrman said.

Austin's allure lies in large part with the ritzy enclave of Forest Hills Gardens, a 142-acre private community built in the early 1900s that stretches south from Austin St. toward Metropolitan Ave. along both sides of Continental Ave.

According to Collett, the US Open...made Forest Hills an international name. "Everybody went there as soon as they landed at Kennedy," said Collett.