Late last year a few news outlets reported that Trader Joe's had leased a portion of the retail space at 675 Sixth Avenue, between 21st and 22nd Streets. Trader Joe's remained characteristically quiet and building ownership never came out with a confirming statement, to the best of my knowledge. And if you walk by the building, no work has been done to the space. And a sign with the contact information for the landlord's broker still hangs in the window.But the image above is all the confirmation that I need.
Retail brokerage firm RKF is using this floorplan in its marketing of the 12,000 SF space shown in blue, which is now available for lease. Apparently, Trader Joe's is coming soon!
Now that we have confirmation, lets do some analysis. Why would Trader Joe's open a location just 11 blocks from its 14th Street store? The answer is residential real estate.
In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the New York City real estate market began a precipitous decline. The downtown Manhattan market was obviously impacted the most, but the Chelsea, Flatiron and Gramercy submarkets were also at a crossroads. Just a few years earlier, these submarkets had experienced a revitalization. The dot com era was in full effect and older loft buildings were being leased up and achieving record rental rates.
The events of 9/11 however changed the momentum in the aforementioned submarkets, and property owners were faced with two questions - how do I move forward with poor office market conditions forecasted well into the future and what ultimately is the highest and best use for my land? The answer to both of those questions, in many instances, was residential real estate. And residential developers never looked back.
Today, with the opening of Trader Joe's, the Gramercy, Flatiron and Chelsea submarkets have become established as full-service residential communities. Need a 2'x4' or a drain pipe - you have Home Depot. Craving some chain restaurant food - take a trip down under to the Outback Steakhouse. Need some groceries - now you will have Trader Joe's. Can a Walmart really be very far behind?
(Image courtesy of Robert K. Futterman & Associates)
1 comments:
tinok THIS is what I've been waiting for...some actual proof! Way to go MSD!!! Keep on it...get a timeline for opening. We need this...we really do. It's too bad they didn't take the entire space. The things they could have done with it are endless. I'm no sourpuss though. I'm thrilled that this long heard rumor may really come true.
Post a Comment