While the office component of 51 Astor Place/the IBM Watson Building/the Death Star is now fully operational leased, the retail spaces have remained empty for nearly two years. (Well, there is the showroom for Ian Shrager’s incoming hotel-condo tower at 215 Chrystie, but that’s just temporary. The showroom/sales office, not 215 Chrystie.)
The Real Deal explored some of the reasons why in an article this past week.
Such as!
Listing broker Patrick Smith of SRS Real Estate Partners said that the angular building presented a “bit of a puzzle” in terms of space configuration and said that Astor Place represents an “emerging retail corridor” that is forced to fill the gap between more popular retail destinations such as Union Square and Soho.
But! According to the article, expect to see some activity in this emerging 51 Astor retail corridor soon.
Three of the five retail spaces currently have leases out and they are in active pursuit on the other two — seeking a specialty fitness and a food tenant that sells prepared meals, according to Smith. [Developer Edward] Minskoff claims that Smith’s assessment of the leasing situation is modest, and that they are in fact finalizing leases for 100 percent of the retail space, to be announced within 30 to 40 days.