real ESTATE
 
World Financial Center shops getting upgraded
 
Owner plans to revamp 177,000 square feet of retail space at the downtown complex, which includes famed Winter Garden as part of a $250 million overhaul; new shops seen.

By Adrianne Pasquarelli and Theresa Agovino
June 16, 2011 2:00 p.m.

Updated: June 16, 2011 3:48 p.m.

The retail space at World Financial Center, across West Street from Ground Zero, is getting a massive upgrade. As part of the $250 million upgrade of the four-building complex, owner Brookfield Office Properties' said Thursday that it would revamp 177,000 square feet of retail space at the base of the buildings, including the famed Winter Garden. Brookfield is expecting to attract a mix of fashion, food and sit-down restaurant tenants.

Construction on the site will begin in October and run through 2013. According to Brookfield, the neighborhood attracts more than 15 million visitors annually and is home to some 60,000 residents and 305,000 office workers.

“These improvements to the World Financial Center are coming at the perfect time,” said Ric Clark, chief executive of Brookfield, in a statement, noting that it coincides with the Hudson River Park's recent completion, the anticipated completion of the two downtown transit centers and a $20 billion private and public investment in lower Manhattan.

A glass pavilion on West Street that will open up into the Winter Garden will be one of the visual centerpieces of the redevelopment, along with the grand staircase that Brookfield had considered removing but instead opted to keep. Some of the new stores will now open up onto Vesey Street, bringing more street life to the strip.

With such retail activity, neighborhood rents are expected to skyrocket. Retail rents currently average about $100 a square foot, but may increase anywhere from 50% to 100%, according to Dennis Friedrich, president and chief investment officer of Brookfield.

More than 40 fashion retailers, ranging in price point from mass market to high-end, are expected to fill 90,000 square feet of the redesigned space, while three anchor tenants, the first of which will open next spring, will take up a total of 15,000 square feet. Though Brookfield is still in negotiations with retailers, a rendering of the project depicted shops on par with women's retailer Anthropologie and upscale design companies such as Tory Burch and Louis Vuitton.

In addition, Brookfield hopes to fit six restaurants, from white-table-cloth eateries to simpler-fare spots, filling about 40,000 square feet. There will also be a 30,000-square-foot dining terrace with 600 seats overlooking the Hudson River and a 25,000-square-foot gourmet food marketplace inspired by Eataly. Some marketplace vendors, including wine and home goods purveyors, will begin opening this fall.