Herald Center, the 10-story, 250,000 s/f retail and office property at the southwest corner of 34th Street and Broadway, is to be redeveloped by long-time owner JEMB Realty.
The property will be reclad as 50,000 s/f of retail space at the heavily trafficked site comes available. “For a few lucky retailers, the new Herald Center really will be a Miracle on 34th Street,” said Morris Bailey, principal of JEMB Realty. “The stunning redevelopment of our retail space creates a tremendous opportunity for a retailer to capture a remarkable audience, to take command of one of the greatest landmark locations in the nation.”
Built in 1982 on the site of the former Korvette’s discount store as a vertical mall, JEMB acquired the property in 1986. Joseph Jerome, a principal of JEMB Realty, noted the redevelopment was made possible after the firm’s acquisition of the former Daffy’s lease at Herald Center out of bankruptcy.
The makeover will involve the removal of the black glass panels on the first three floors and replacing them with transparent panes. Floors 4-10 will also be transformed with L.E.D. panels. Improvements are also planned for the pedestrian plaza immediately in front of Herald Center, where over 100 million pedestrians pass through every year.
CBRE’s Susan Kurland is the exclusive leasing agent for Herald Center. ASA College recently expanded to over 100,000 s/f at the property and will have its own ground floor lobby entrance on 33rd Street.
