“What’s Happening Staten Island” is a series about construction projects and other community happenings around the borough.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A controversial North Shore commercial development seems to still be in the works, but it’s unclear if it will still have the same big-name tenant linked to it for years.

A Tuesday visit to the site that runs from Forest and South avenues to Forest Avenue and Morrow Street showed what looks to be a largely-abandoned piece of property with overgrown brush throughout.

That current appearance belies the long-planned commercial development at the site, which for years had been set to include the Island’s first BJ’s Wholesale Club though it’s unclear if that big-name tenant still plans to open on the North Shore.

A spokesperson for BJ’s Wholesale Club, which recently opened its first Staten Island location on the South Shore , declined comment on whether they still plan to open at the Graniteville site, and attempts to reach the property owners, Josif A LLC, have been unsuccessful.

Multiple email and voicemail requests for comment have gone unanswered to the law firm that represented the property owners in a permit renewal application filed last year with the Department of City Planning .

First filed Oct. 24, the application is for a renewal of previous city approvals allowing the five retail stores planned for the site to be greater than 10,000 square feet in size.

Documentation filed with the application describes the project as five one-story retail buildings, including a super market, at 534 South Ave.

Development plans for the site date to at least 2008, according to filings with the city. The property has been among the same ownership group since 1996, according to records from the Richmond County Clerk’s Office.

The location of the project includes a state-designated freshwater wetland, but developers secured the necessary permits from the state Department of Environmental Conservation in 2019 .

Developers included 10.8 acres of on-site mitigation in their plan, including freshwater wetlands buffer plantings, a freshwater wetland enhancement area, a stormwater management area, and preserved natural areas.

Despite that, environmental activists long opposed the project because of its proximity to the wetlands, but their challenges failed.

The Department of Environmental Conservation approved the plan. An attempt to identify endangered species living in the area and a court challenge brought by Gabriella Velardi-Ward, leader of the Staten Island Coalition of Wetlands and Forests, was unsuccessful.

The development was ultimately able to move forward following that case, which reached the state appellate division and challenged the Department of Environmental Conservation for its lack of compliance with a state environmental regulation.

Councilmember Kamillah Hanks, a Democrat representing the North Shore, was not in office when the project obtained most of its approvals, but said that moving forward the project should serve as a lesson on the importance of community engagement.

“The Graniteville wetlands saga underscores the critical need for genuine community engagement in development decisions. Had local voices been heeded from the outset, we might have preserved this vital natural buffer,” she said “Moving forward, let this serve as a lesson: meaningful community input isn’t just beneficial—it’s essential to safeguarding our environment and ensuring sustainable growth.”