By Holly Dutton
When retail brokers and executives converge on Las Vegas next week for one of the industry’s biggest conventions, many will be looking to make pitches and seal deals.
One of the most talked-about retail centers is lower Manhattan’s Brookfield Place (formerly the World Financial Center) which is undergoing a $250 million upgrade to its retail and public space.
Brookfield’s director of retail leasing Ed Hogan will be attending the International Council of Shopping Center’s annual RECon convention in Las Vegas May 18-20, a global gathering for those in the retail industry. While he said he will be taking “a lot” of meetings, he is looking more toward the future.
“We’re really starting to focus on our next project for Brookfield which is Manhattan West, near the Hudson Yards Project,” said Hogan.
Manhattan West, a giant project at 9th Avenue and 33rd Street, broke ground in 2012 and will have two 65-story office towers and a 60-story residential tower a block east of the Hudson Yards project. The five-acre site will have seven million square feet of office and mixed-use development.
“We do have a few deals wrapping up for Brookfield Place,” said Hogan, who added that the retail is fully leased pending a few signed deals. “We’re in a very good position.”
Hudson Eats, a European-style marketplace with waterfront dining along the Hudson River, will feature fast-casual concepts from 14 chef-driven eateries, including Umami Burger, Dos Toros Taqueria, Chop’t, Dig Inn, Num Pang, Sinny Pizza, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Mighty Quinns, Tartinery and Olive’s. It is scheduled to open May 31, said Hogan.
Directly below Hudson Eats will be Peter Poulakakos’ Le District, a French version of Mario Batali‘s popular Eataly, which will offer fresh meats, seafood, produce, coffee, desserts and a 10,000 s/f foot outdoor dining area, as well as five sit-down restaurants. That project will open gradually in the fall and next Spring, while gym Equinox is slated to open this fall.
