Empire State Building looking for tenants to fill 50,000 square feet of retail space

The landlords of New York City’s most iconic skyscraper are looking to fill 50,000 square feet of retail space by 2020, even as brick-and-mortar businesses in Manhattan have struggled to stay open. According to Bloomberg, owners of the Empire State Building are marketing the tower’s ground-floor, concourse and second-floor real estate, as the building undergoes a retail renovation for the first time since opening in 1931. Plus, the tower’s observatory entrance will be moved from Fifth Avenue to 34th Street.

This is the most retail space the storied Art-Deco skyscraper has ever had up for grabs. Jeffery Roseman, the executive vice president of brokerage Newmark Knight Frank, told Bloomberg that because of the heavy foot traffic in front of the Empire State Building, tenants at the tower would not be affected by the high rate of vacancies affecting other retail stores in the area.

And the Empire State Building is not the only major skyscraper looking for new tenants. According to the Real Deal, media company Condé Nast is looking to sublet several of its underutilized floors at the One World Trade Center. Options include putting several of its 24 floors on the sublet market or relocating outside business units to the supertall.

In addition to its location, the Empire State Building’s 36,000 square feet of below-grade concourse space and 19 foot high ceilings should have no problem attracting tenants. Roughly 24,000 square feet of that space is available now; Heartland Brewery and Rotisserie have the rest of the space until 2020.

Retail at the Empire State Building generated just $5.6 million out of the $233.1 million the skyscraper produced in the first nine months of 2017. During the same period of time last year, retail brought in $7.2 million.

Any new tenants will join chain stores like Starbucks, Walgreens and Chipotle, all of which have signs in an Art-Deco style, a requirement from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.

[Via Bloomberg]

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