From the WSJ's Developments blog:
- Rendering of new Brookfield Place retail complex
Luxury retail is beginning to boom in Downtown Manhattan.
The announcement Wednesday that a Saks Fifth Avenue department store
will open in Brookfield Place is the latest sign that shopping in the
city’s financial district is going upscale. Other tenants that Brookfield Property Partners LP has signed at the retail complex that it’s overhauling include Burberry, Emenegildo Zegna and Salvatore Ferragamo.
The new Saks Fifth Avenue “will cater to what we believe is an
underserved and rapidly growing downtown luxury markets,” said Richard
Baker, chief executive, of Hudson's Bay Co., the Canadian department store owner that acquired Saks last year.
In the deal announced Wednesday, Hudson’s Bay said it would open an
85,000 square foot Saks Fifth Avenue in Brookfield Place and a 55,000
square foot Saks Off Fifth outlet at One Liberty Plaza, which also is
owned by Brookfield. In addition, Hudson will lease 400,000 square feet
of office space in Brookfield Place, which will become the company’s New
York home office.
Until recently, stores in Downtown Manhattan primarily served
commuters and office workers. Many of the biggest retailers in the area,
like Century 21, were known partly as discounters. Only a few luxury
stores, like Tiffany and Hermes have opened in the Wall Street area....MORE