NEW YORK CITY — Nordstrom Inc. plans to open its first full-line department store in New York City, following a site search that lasted more than a decade.
The Seattle-based chain will occupy 285,000 square feet at the base of planned skyscraper at Broadway and West 57th Street, near Columbus Circle. The store is part of a deal with Extell Development Co., which owns the site.
The seven-story store is expected to open in 2018.
“It makes perfect sense that Nordstrom — one of the premier names in retailing — would want a flagship store in New York, the world's premier city for retailing,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said during a news conference Thursday.
“This is very exciting news for New Yorkers and the millions of tourists who come to our city to shop each year, and this new addition to the West Side of Manhattan is another sign of the private sector's confidence in New York City.”
Extell reportedly plans to construct a 1 million-square-foot tower, with a hotel and apartments, on the site of a former Hard Rock Cafe. Extell President Gary Burnett assembled the 40,000-square-foot site during the period of a decade. According to Barnett, excavation work on the site could begin as early as the first quarter of next year.
Nordstrom said it views the development as a great opportunity to serve customers within the highly accessible, heavy trafficked West Side retail scene.
“This has been a long time coming for us, as Nordstrom has sought a NYC location for many years,” says Erik Nordstrom, president of stores for Nordstrom Inc. “We look forward to opening our doors and we view this as our chance to have our best Nordstrom store in the best retail city in the world.”
Derek Trulson of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Nordstrom in the deal, which he describes as critical for the future of Manhattan's West Side.
“New York has not seen a new fashion specialty store of Nordstrom's quality and importance in decades,” says Trulson. “We could not have hoped for a better location, and Nordstrom will now anchor the West Side retail experience at 57th and Broadway. This is a creative real estate deal and build-to-suit that works for Nordstrom as a luxury retailer over the long term.”
He adds that the site is located close to Times Square, which will give the chain exposure to millions of tourists. Trulson says about 38 million people visit Central Park each year and 40 million people visit Times Square.
“We are very fortunate that after three years we found a site that has such great proximity to the center of the city,” says Trulson. “Nordstrom is in the perfect spot to capture the benefits of visitors traveling between Central Park and Times Square.”
Robert Futterman at RFK represented Extell in the transaction.
Nordstrom has grown from a single Seattle shoe store that opened in 1901 to a national retailer with a focus on customer service. The company operates 231 stores in 31 states, including 117 full-line stores and 110 Nordstrom Racks.
— Liz Burlingame