Bids Open for Local Retail Tenants at Under-Construction JFK Terminal 6

Managers of a bright and shiny new terminal currently under construction at Queens’ John F. Kennedy International Airport are now accepting bids for retail tenants and are looking to keep it local.

JFK Millennium Partners, a consortium including Vantage Group, RXR and American Triple I Partners, is working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to develop the new 1.3 million-square-foot, 10-gate Terminal 6, which is set to open at JFK in 2026.

Michael Golden, senior director of commercial strategy and leasing at Vantage, said during a panel at the ICSC New York retail convention on Wednesday that bids are being accepted to fill the 60,000 square feet of concession space at the new terminal.

Vantage, which also currently manages and operates JFK’s Terminal 7 and LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B, is targeting local business owners to fill its short-term retail spaces at the new wing, such as New York City staples like Brooklyn Diner or Magnolia Bakery.

“We’re focusing on making sure we get a local sense of place,” Susan Warner-Dooley, aviation chief commercial officer at Port Authority, said during Wednesday’s panel at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. “We want our passengers to know they’re in New York City when they come through.”

In September, JFK Millennium Partners and the Port Authority announced they had already selected a dozen local businesses for the available space, including Di Fara Pizza, Alidoro Café, Fuku, Hanoi House and Brooklyn Blend.

The remaining spots include small turnkey spaces ranging from 170 to 200 square feet that will be rented through direct leases and restricted to local and small businesses, according to Vantage.

While the open retail spaces will generate about 4,000 new jobs, there are many factors for potential airport retailers to consider, such as expensive operating costs and long hours for employees, Warner-Dooley added.

Completion of Terminal 6, which is set to open its first six gates during the first quarter of 2026, is contingent upon the demolition of the current Terminal 7, according to Vantage. The $4.2 billion project will feature a new transportation center that will connect to two AirTrain stations and provide access to two adjacent parking garages.

However, the growing popularity of airport lounges and clubs could negatively impact JFK’s retail tenants, Golden said.

Full-service food and beverage restaurants are seeing an “impact in sales” from airport lounges, where travelers pay a fee for food and drinks. Many travelers see the lounges as preferable to sitting in terminals for hours, he said.

“It’s lessons learned,” Golden said. “As we build new airports, we’re doing a lot more space planning and allocating more space to those lounges. But when we allocate space to those lounges, that also means maybe we don’t need as much food and beverage.

“It’s an evolving program, but those lounges create a great customer experience for our passengers,” Golden added. “There just needs to be a way for them to be complementary with the rest of the program.”

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.