 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Shopping Centers Today -> July 2002
 PRINT THIS STORY: |
  CHANGE TEXT SIZE: |
MANHATTAN ON MEND, SAY DEVELOPERS, RETAILERS
By Dave Bodamer
Recovery operations at the site of Manhattan’s World Trade Center were declared to be over at the end of May. By then, however, other aspects of the city’s healing process had already been well under way.
Developers and retailers attending a luncheon conference organized by ICSC, titled “Back to Business in Manhattan” and held at The Rouse Co.’s South Street Seaport in April, reported that New York City retail has made a remarkable recovery in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
South Street, a festival marketplace, saw its comparable-store sales plummet 85 percent in September, when it shut down for eight full days. Even after it reopened, much of the rest of downtown was still closed, leaving the center virtually bereft of customers.
But now Rouse is predicting that 2002 will be the strongest year ever for South Street. In December its same-store sales were down 10 percent from the previous year. But by January its sales were up 0.6 percent, and in February and March, sales rose 22.8 percent and 25 percent, respectively over 2001.
Warm weather and several other factors helped the resurgence, according to Paul Harnett, CSM, the center’s general manager. The booth where visitors got free tickets to the World Trade Center viewing platform was located there, bringing between 5,000 and 6,000 tourists a day to South Street.
South Street officials were joined at the conference by those from Grand Central Terminal, the Manhattan Mall and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Business is up also at Grand Central Terminal, said Paul Kastner, SCMD, vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle and director of marketing and leasing for retail at the terminal. After a major face-lift a few years ago, the station now features 50 retail stores, a food court with 18 vendors and five sit-down restaurants.
Being a major transportation hub, Grand Central reopened on Sept. 12, though some of the businesses inside the terminal did not. In the wake of the attack, Jones Lang LaSalle made a push to reposition Grand Central as a retail destination as quickly as it could. In October it held an event called “Grand Central Salutes New York” and in December hosted its annual Holiday Fair.
“We had no idea what to expect and were shocked to see the fair actually went up in sales compared to last year,” Kastner said. During the first few months of 2002, Grand Central’s tenants have seen sales return to pre-Sept. 11 levels, aided greatly by the fact that, as before the attacks, more than 500,000 commuters pass through the station every day.
The Manhattan Mall, now owned by private real estate firm Argent Ventures, is also trying to make a comeback, although its problems go back further than September. The center, built by Simon Property Group, has never performed well, its new owners concede.
Argent is attempting to reposition the mall, partly by converting many of its upper floors into office space. The center has 13 levels — 11 above ground and two below.
Elsewhere in midtown, Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship saw sales drop 50 percent in the weeks following Sept. 11. The flagship normally accounts for 20 percent of the chain’s sales and 35 percent of its profits. But by April the store was posting gains over last year’s levels, according to Bill Lynch, senior vice president of merchandising at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Century 21, a downtown department store icon located across the street from the World Trade Center, reopened in March, drawing so many shoppers it had to bar some customers from entering.
Meanwhile, some major new retail projects in Manhattan are moving forward.
The AOL/Time Warner Center, a 2.1 million-square-foot mixed-used project planned for Columbus Circle had its topping-out ceremony earlier this year.
The project, set to open in 2003, is being developed by Columbus Center, a partnership of Apollo Real Estate Advisors, The Palladium Co. and The Related Cos., all of New York City. The retail component will be a 364,000-square-foot, seven-story complex.
New York City-based Vornado Realty Trust is making progress with its projects as well. These include the redevelopment of New York’s Penn Station and ground-floor leasing at the Bloomberg Building in midtown, which is still under construction.
 | Current Issue November 2008 |