Barnes & Noble Renews Lease On Austin Street

While brick-and-mortar bookstores in other parts of the city and the country may be closing, Forest Hills has at least one literary retailer that isn’t going anywhere.

Muss Development, owners of the shopping center at 70-00 Austin Street, announced this week that the Forest Hills store has extended its lease.

The store, which opened on Austin Street in 1995, has extended its lease through January 2016, according to Russ Colchamiro, a spokesman for the landlord.

Leslie Brown, the president of the Forest Hills Chamber of Commerce, said she was "thrilled" by the news.

"It brings a lot of people into the area and they're a thriving business, so we think it's a great thing," Brown said.

The bookstore anchors the western end of Austin Street, the most high-profile retail strip in Forest Hills, and includes a coffeehouse, as well. It’s not unfamiliar to see local residents reading in both the coffee shop and on the bookstore’s second floor.

Jason Muss, of Muss Development, touted the area in a statement after the announcement of the renewal.

“With a constant flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and even a place to park your car, Austin Street has a virtual parade of potential customers moving up and down the street and sidewalk all day long,” Muss said. 

The book store is located across the street from a , and in the same complex as a , and