Developer Rockefeller Group is pumping $50 million into renovating an outdoor plaza that serves as a gateway to one of Manhattan’s largest retail spaces at the company’s 1221 Avenue of the Americas property, hoping the upgrade will attract shoppers and diners post COVID.

New York’s new mayor Eric Adams praised the renovation, saying that recovery from the COVID slump and bringing the city back to complete vibrancy will be an “all hands-on-deck”  effort. The plaza serves as a major entrance to 65,000-sf of retail. 

The plaza fronts the west side of Avenue of the Americas between 48^th and 49^th Streets, one block south of Radio City Music Hall. Rockefeller group said that construction proceeds apace and that the new plaza will be ready ahead of the 2022 holiday season.

“From a retail perspective, since this building was first developed, the Avenue of the Americas has completely changed for the public from a corporate corridor to a pathway between Bryant Park and Central Park, Fifth Avenue and Times Square,” said Bill Edwards, Rockefeller Group’s executive vice president of Core Holdings.  “Space that was once designed for corporations has been adapted for new uses and we’re thrilled to have this blank canvas for innovative brands to explore and the public to enjoy.”