Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
By 2013, the World Financial Center should be implementing the changes they've been talking about since last year, which now includes transforming the Courtyard into a high-end shopping mecca (for stores like Louise Vuittaine, naturally). As a result, the restaurants that have filled the atrium of the building for the past 25 years will be getting the shove elsewhere. According to the Post, when Brookfield Office Properties announced they'd be revamping "177,000 square feet of shopping and dining space," they left out all of this business about the Courtyard shuffle.
Brookfield President Dennis Friedrich clarifies: "We're going to create a full second floor with double-loaded corridors for stores," and adds that some of the new stores will be located in the Courtyard, while others will be located next to a new glass pavilion or in the Winter Garden.
But don't think the eateries are getting put out on the street—the Post reports that Brookfield will be kicking out some retail tenants on the second level, like Gap and Hallmark, to fit a new dining terrace with 15 counters and 600 seats. All this moving around isn't just for the hell of it: WFC is naturally trying to make its properties more appealing to new tenants, especially since Merril Lynch's giant lease will be expiring in 2013. And let's not forget that new-neighbors Condé Nast will be close by at 1 WTC, meaning all of those editors and their assistants are going to need somewhere fancy to shop.
· Trading cocktails for retail [NY Post]
· Latest Vision for World Financial Center Renovation Revealed [Curbed]
Loading comments...