Retailers Opening Smaller Urban Stores

In a New York Times article titled Retailers' Idea: Think Smaller in Urban Push, the Times examines the trend of larger retailers, like Wal-Mart and Target, opening small city stores to open their growth. "The suburbs are basically saturated with retailers," said Patrick L. Phillips, chief executive of the Urban Land Institute, an urban-planning research nonprofit, "but it's easy to develop stores in the suburbs, and hard to develop stores in cities." An excerpt from the article:

Most large American cities are growing faster than their suburbs for the first time in almost a century, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of census results released last month, largely because young adults are choosing urban apartment life. That population shift, along with Internet competition, have made the car-focused, big-box model less relevant.

Target opened its first City Targets, in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, on Wednesday. At 80,000 to 100,000 square feet, City Target, at its smallest just over half the size of a remodeled Target, is aimed at urban shoppers. For instance, City Targets would not carry a six-piece patio set, but a three-piece balcony set instead.

"We see this as an opportunity for the people who live, work and play downtown, who probably have a suburban Target they call their home base," said Molly Snyder, a company spokeswoman. "You'll see less 12-packs of paper towels and more four-packs, knowing most people will arrive by foot or public transportation and will have to carry it home."

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World Trade Center Retail Taking Shape

A new article from The Achitect's Newspaper takes a closer look at the growth at World Trade Center, focusing on the retail plans for the neighborhood that will include the introduction of more than 635,000 square feet of retail space. According to the article, three new shopping centers are rising in the area that will be connected via underground transit hubs and pedestrian walkways.

The largest complex is being developed by Westfield Group which will be responsible for all retail at the World Trade Center, adding 365,000 square feet of retail space. The company has said it expects to finalize an agreement with the Port Authority by the end of the year. In its third quarter financial update this month, Westfield explained that the company had reached an "in principle agreement on the $1.3 billion joint venture" [with the Port Authority] of the retail premises at the World Trade Center in New York. Westfield invested in the retail concourse at the original World Trade Center six weeks before it was destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and sold its stake back to the Port Authority in December 2003.

Brookfield Properties is revamping 200,000 square feet at the World Financial Center, a $250 million investment to update the Cesar Pelli designed property and introduce new retail aimed at a fashion or luxury tenant. The plans for the property were originally announced in June declaring that construction was set to begin in October 2011 and would conclude in 2013. The broad-scope changes expand the retail offerings and include high-end fashion, a European-style marketplace, and waterfront dining. In addition, a dramatic glass pavilion on West Street will link the Center to Lower Manhattan’s new transit hubs and serve as the main entranceway to the eight-million-square-foot complex.

In late October, the MTA announced it would lease 70,000 square feet of retail at the $1.4 billion Fulton Street Transit Center to a single operator who will manage and rent out the space.

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