
Times Square Landlords Want Experience
With asking rents in New York’s Times Square falling, landlords are seeking out tenants that can provide “experiential retail.” Owners and managers are looking for food and entertainment venues, along with more interactive elements in the shops themselves.
One under-construction hotel and retail project at Seventh Avenue and West 47th Street, will offers a 40,000-square-foot, interactive football exhibit and theater, courtesy of the National Football League, the NFL Players Association and Cirque du Soleil. Meanwhile, an 11,970-square-foot food hall, a 60,000-square-foot interactive exhibit from National Geographic and a 49,000-square-foot “Gulliver’s Gate” have leases at a building on West 43rd.
Though Times Square is still desired by conventional retailers, Cushman & Wakefield’s Alan Schmerzler said the shift is to experiential-retail. “It’s the surge in interest from that category that is going to drive change in Times Square in the next few years,” Schmerzler told the Wall Street Journal.
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