More change could soon be coming to Downtown Flushing thanks to a billion dollar deal that could transform a block that’s currently home to Macy’s. NY1’s Matt McClure filed the following report.

Downtown Flushing has been home to a Macy's retail store for decades, but it could look quite a bit different soon. Real estate investment group Crown Acquisitions has signed a 99-year, $1 billion ground lease on the property.

“The area has been transformed radically, and it's just been reinvented almost every month,” said Robert Freedman, who serves as Chairman of Colliers International and helped negotiate the deal. “So, it's terribly exciting to be associated with Flushing.”

“Flushing produces the most number of jobs in the entire city of New York, and we’re seeing rapid growth to the point where people are investing a billion dollars to take over a site in Downtown Flushing,” said Assemblyman Ron Kim.

The site, on Roosevelt Avenue between Main and Union Streets, is in Kim’s district.

“As someone who grew up there, my parents and I went to Macy’s; my wife and my new daughter, we continue to go there, so it’s a very sentimental place for a lot of us in Flushing. So we hope that they will continue to stay Macy’s.”

Freedman says it’s too soon to tell exactly what will happen to the property, but he says from a real estate standpoint, he could see several big box retailers taking over the space.

“This is the tipping point.  This is the epicenter of Flushing. You're instituting most likely a multi-tenant, big box retail regime. You have, off in the distance, Flushing Commons. People are buying $2 billion condominiums in Flushing. This is not your grandmother's Flushing.”

The site is also next to the 7 Train Main Street station. Assemblyman Kim says the deal, along with the neighborhood’s explosive growth, means the city and state should invest more into Flushing’s infrastructure.

“Making sure that the 14 bus lines that go down to Downtown Flushing, as well as the 7 Train infrastructure, is improved. Imagine the return on the dollar.”

A spokesperson for Macy’s says the store’s lease at the location runs for another 10 years, and they expect to continue to operate for that full period.