NEW YORK CITY — Brookfield Office Properties (NYSE: BPO) has unveiled its plans for a $250 million retail redevelopment of the World Financial Center in Lower Manhattan. Including 177,000 square feet of rentable square feet, the positioning of this retail component is timed with Lower Manhattan’s residential growth, creation of new transit hubs, Hudson Park completion and World Trade Center reconstruction. The retail segment at the World Financial Center will serve as the main entranceway to the 8 million-square-foot complex.
Construction of the entire project is set to begin in October 2011 and will conclude in 2013. Broken down into separate sections, the changes expand the retail offerings and include high-end fashion, a European-style marketplace, and waterfront dining.
“These improvements to the World Financial Center are coming at the perfect time, given the investment in Lower Manhattan,” said Ric Clark, CEO of Brookfield Office Properties. “The World Financial Center Winter Garden has served as Lower Manhattan’s welcoming public space for the past twenty years. We are pleased to be moving forward with a plan that incorporates the existing Winter Garden staircase and repositions the World Financial Center for decades to come.“
According to Brookfield, the redevelopment of the World Financial Center’s retail and dining has driven incremental interest from future office tenants, leading to negotiations surrounding more than 2 million square feet.
The new retail component is broken into several distinct segments, which include the following elements.
Anchor Retail
Up to three 15,000-square-foot anchors will sit along West Street, providing highly visible and prominent retail space directly across from the World Trade Center Memorial, providing prominent visibility to the expected 10 million annual visitors (New Yorkers, Tri-State residents and tourists alike).
In-Line Fashion
A collection of high-end boutiques along with best-in-class retailers will take approximately 90,000 square feet within the development. This includes a mix of renowned international fashion retailers and up-and-coming New York brands, with price points spanning the range from everyday to high-end fashion.
European-Style Marketplace
Encompassing 25,000 rentable square feet with waterfront seating, the marketplace is designed to resemble La Boquería on Las Ramblas in Barcelona or the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco, offering a fresh farm-to-table experience with produce, meat, fish, cheese, bread and coffee with emphasis on organic offerings and local sources of origin. The market will also include home goods, a florist and a specialty wine shop.
Dining
Consisting of six restaurants comprising 40,000 square feet, and a dining terrace covering 30,000 square feet with 600 public seats overlooking the Hudson River and New York Harbor, the waterfront dining options will range from white tablecloth to fast casual.
Finally, the West Street glass pavilion designed by architect Pelli Clarke Pelli — the original designer of The World Financial Center — will serve as the connector between the underground pedestrian passageway from the World Trade Center and Fulton Street transit hubs to the World Financial Center and the Hudson River ferries to the west. Those traveling from Grand Central and Penn Station will access the World Financial Center through a brand-new, climate-controlled connection.
“Lower Manhattan is the next major retail growth district for New York City. With over $20 billion of public and private projects underway, the neighborhood is undergoing a major transformation,” said Wade McDevitt, CEO of the McDevitt Company, Brookfield’s lead broker for the expansion.
— Dan Marcec