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Saks Fifth Avenue has yet to confirm its heavily-rumored downtown locations at Brookfield Place, but the evidence keeps on piling up. The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Hudson Bay Co., Saks' parent company, is looking to lease 400,000 square feet of office space at One Liberty Plaza, the same building that will supposedly house Saks Off Fifth.
This would comprise all of the company's corporate offices, which includes Lord & Taylor—its employees currently work on the upper floors of the department store at 424 Fifth Avenue.
Though Saks did not return the newspaper's requests for comment, but an anonymous source said that they're looking to finalize the deal before the end of the summer.
This move signal the growing trend of non-financial businesses headed downtown, diversifying an area typically dominated by Wall Street-type firms. WSJ noted that both Revlon and Time Inc. are also headed for Brookfield offices, whose rents are much cheaper than similar spaces in Midtown.
Luckily, employees of these companies will have plenty of places to shop once their new offices are ready.
· Saks Looks to Expand Downtown [WSJ]
· Hudson Bay Co.'s CEO Won't Confirm Saks at Brookfield Place [Racked NY]
· Updated: Tracking the Financial District's Booming Retail Scene [Racked NY]