Jamaica, Queens, native pulls the levers of economic development to stage an overhaul

Growing up in Jamaica, Queens, in the 1980s and 1990s, Justin Rodgers always enjoyed going downtown to buy sneakers, even as he was aware that the commercial district, around Sutphin Boulevard and Archer Avenue near John F. Kennedy International Airport, was a shell of its 1940s’ self.

“At one time, it was basically the shopping center for all of Queens,” Rodgers says.

Recapturing some of that glory is a priority for Rodgers, who last year was made president of the Greater Jamaica Development Corp., a nonprofit that works to bring investment to the neighborhood by assembling parcels, coordinating deals and facilitating tax credits.

Although the streets may not bustle as they did around World War II, major chains have in recent years shown interest in the once-blighted area. Chipotle, Target and Shake Shack have opened outposts, and new mom-and-pop shops are expected to follow.

But other elements of a full-bore rebound are up and running in an area rezoned in 2008. Once-windswept car lots on Archer, for instance, now sport a parade of soaring high-rises, some packed with income-restricted units, which are a necessary hedge against gentrification, he says. In the past few years, developers have constructed 3,000 apartments, and 10,000 more units should open by 2026.

It’s a feather in the cap of the 43-year-old, who has spent almost