| Downtown seems busier than ever, with new retail and residential sprouting everywhere and more affordable opportunities opening for office users. We heard there was a new retail push, so we decided to find out more from Downtown Alliance president and neighborhood guru Liz Berger. Liz knows a lot, since she’s lived, worked and played in the submarket for over 25 years; she’s even having a Downtown staycation this holiday. |
| Liz told us the Alliance is putting additional focus on its retail sector through its holiday marketing campaign. Downtown certainly has the fundamentals for retail: it’s experiencing some of the highest values in retail and residential since 9/11; over 12k new residential units have since delivered; and its 2,600-room hotel stock will soon have 1,500 new rooms with the development of eight hotels. (And the visitors have deep pockets: the average household income of guests is $212k.) Overall, the neighborhood sees 318k workers and 57k residents daily, 8M tourists annually, and is the fourth-largest CBD in the US, she tells us. |
| We took this shot of Liz and colleagues Gideon Friedman, Mai Hariu, Jonathan LaChance, and Elizabeth Hewitt during ICSC, the first time the Alliance set up marketing in conjunction with the conference. |
| Although luxury retailers like Hermes and Tiffany’s have already taken space, the Alliance wants to drive more shoppers to the area to show investors and retailers that Downtown has the critical mass to support their stores (like the summer crowds on Stone Street above.) There are currently 49 retail spaces available, including old banking halls with large floorplates, high ceilings and details from marble surfaces to chandeliers. And space shoppers are going to find bargains now: the average Broadway corridor rent between Chambers Street and Battery Park City is $251 PSF, vs Upper West Side’s $309 PSF and Herald Square’s $643 PSF. |
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