New York goes through economic fluctuations up and down.

вЂњWe know that retail in New York right now is going through a difficult time. Stern Architects and a creator of the design principles used by the 42nd Street Development Project, a city-state agency that guided the areaвЂ™s changes in the 1990s. вЂњOver a long period of time any project is going to go through some economic changes,вЂќ said Paul Whalen, a partner at Robert A.M. No one knows yet whether Times Square is changing for the better or the worse, but brokers being brokers and developers being developers, the folks behind it say its best days are ahead. And the Jimmy Buffett-themed Margaritaville Hotel at West 41st Street and Seventh Avenue recently opened. There are also five hotels in various stages of construction in Times Square: the TSX hotel at West 46th Street and Broadway, the RIU Plaza on West 47th Street, the Marriott Residence on West 46th Street, the Hard Rock on West 48th Street and the Hilton on West 48th Street. Follow-up calls were not returned.ДЇlagship office tenants like magazine publisher CondГ© Nast, top-tier accounting firm EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, and prestigious corporate law firm Skadden Arps, that moved in during that first revitalization in the 1990s, are being replaced by new, more offbeat occupants such as TikTok Roku, the makers of a device that allows your television to connect with a variety of streaming services and Touro College. A spokesman for the real estate investment trust, one of the largest commercial landlords in the city, said last month it is too early for it to reveal a strategy for the space. to manage the property, including taking up its retail space as a cause. Natixis has brought in SL Green Realty Corp.

вЂњI think thereвЂ™s really great potential in that space,вЂќ Harris said. Regarding the empty retail portion of the Edition project, he said, вЂњItвЂ™s a really phenomenal space.вЂќ He noted its location across the street from Duffy Square, a square within Times Square best known for the TKTS booth that sells discounted Broadway tickets.

I see a lot of encouragement to support my optimism - the five hotels that are opening, the renewed interest in leasing spaces in Times Square - these are all good, positive things.вЂќ I have a lot of faith in the Adams administration. вЂњIвЂ™m the eternal optimist,вЂќ said Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, the areaвЂ™s business improvement organization. The challenge comes as Times Square competes with other, more sedate Midtown areas like Rockefeller Center and the newer and enticing Hudson Yards. Flagship office tenants have either left or are leaving, its retail occupants come and go, and while itвЂ™s no longer overrun by drug dealers and sex workers, the costumed cartoon characters and the вЂњdesnudas,вЂќ the nearly naked women who charge for posing for pictures with them, make for a challenging environment going forward. This is but one of the empty spaces that crystallize the dilemma facing the Crossroads of the World, the evolution it faces for the first time since its last revitalization in the 1990s. A вЂњ poorly conceivedвЂќ NFL Experience attraction closed there in 2019. According to a July 2020 Commercial Observer article, the unrented retail space is 60,000 square feet, large enough to house a moderate-sized supermarket. Promotional material for MadonnaвЂ™s 14th album вЂњMadame XвЂќ - including the repeated phrase вЂњMadame X is here to disturb the peaceвЂќ - covers its retail portion. SEE ALSO: Should Proptech Panic About Funding?

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