It’s Official: Century 21 Takes Barnes & Noble Space
By Nate Freeman September 1, 2010 9:18 pm
reprints
A release from brokerage Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) confirms that Century 21 will indeed open its second Manhattan store in the space evacuated by the Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble. Century 21 had just yesterday denied rumors that the switch was afoot.
MyUpperWest reported that the department store would be opening a branch at the 61,000-square-foot uptown space at 66th and Broadway, but when reached by The Observer, a Century 21 representative denied any such move. That denial is now turning out to be incorrect.
Century 21 will begin to develop the location in February 2011, after the bookseller moves out in January. The sure-to-be massive storefront is expected to open its doors the following fall. It will be the first branch built in Manhattan since the flagship opened at 22 Cortlandt Street in 2000.
Gene Spiegelman, who brokered the deal for Cushman & Wakefield, was not one to downplay the massive importance of the news. “Century 21 presented the landlord with the unique opportunity to replace one New York icon with another New York icon,” he said in the release.
And when this massive branch of a giant national clothing chain gets mobbed by tourists at all hours of the day, it will become a kind of icon, in its own funny way. Enjoy, Upper West Siders!
