A Retail Evolution Is Front and Center Downtown

Lower Manhattan’s retail landscape is dynamically evolving, and building owners, retail brokers and potential tenants should pay attention.

Long gone are the days when downtown’s ecosystem solely revolved around finance. As our local industry diversifies, we are also seeing exponential residential growth. With nearly 70,000 residents, our streets are humming with life 24/7. More people are out and about, looking for new ways to socialize and for novel experiences in Lower Manhattan. These new workers and residents, combined with changes in consumer habits post-pandemic, have led to demand for different types of retail spaces.

In a new trend, we’re seeing a shift to even more sport, with fitness concepts popping up downtown and taking an increasing amount of square footage. This is anchoring the retail component of several buildings: Court 16’s tennis and pickleball facilities at 28 Liberty; the Lawn Club at South Street Seaport; Iron Golf; the batting cages of Baseball Pill; and the recently opened 20,000-square-foot Socceroof outpost also at 28 Liberty. Innovative children’s activity hub Complete Playground is also finding an enthusiastic audience with local families to host play dates and parties in its 40,000-square-foot space. With a generation of consumers looking for ways to stay healthy and social outside of the home, it’s an intriguing and growing market. 

Post-pandemic, consumers are also placing more value on in-person entertainment. The arts have often been the driver of neighborhood transformations, but what comprises “entertainment” today is also evolving. There is PAC NYC on the World Trade Center campus, which launched “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” ahead of its much-anticipated Broadway debut, and there is also the Instagram haven that is the Mercer Labs Museum of Art and Technology. Experiences like these are solidifying Lower Manhattan’s reputation as an entertainment destination and are already attracting more tenants of a similar nature. One particularly vibrant and imaginative example is Meow Wolf, a renowned, family-friendly immersive art experience known for its fantastical, interactive installations. The organization recently announced that its first permanent East Coast exhibition will be at the Seaport, marking an exciting expansion for the brand.

As for so-called “traditional” retail: There’s nothing traditional about what’s happening downtown. Luxury French department store Printemps chose One Wall Street for its only U.S. location in a bold move that signals a new era for retail in Lower Manhattan. More than a store, downtown’s Printemps is an experience that blends shopping and high-touch service with spa treatments, a wine store and five bars and restaurants inside a lavish landmark building. The New York Times said shopping there “can feel like a decadent Easter egg hunt,” and New York Magazine said it is “unlike any other store in New York.” I couldn’t agree more. Tourists and locals alike now visit just to glimpse inside the visual feast that is the Red Room shoe salon, a destination of its own. When the first Printemps store opened in Paris’ up-and-coming Opéra district in 1865, the founders took “a gamble on the future” that paid off and transformed retail. Now, 160 years later, Printemps is investing in the energy, resilience and boundless potential of Lower Manhattan.

The food and drink concepts within Printemps are drawing crowds of their own. Anchoring the ground floor is Maison Passerelle, helmed by three-time James Beard Award-winning chef Gregory Gourdet, which Vogue says is “in a category all of its own.” There is also Cafe Jalu, Salon Vert, the Red Room Bar and the Champagne Bar, which all make for unexpected meeting spots and delightful shopping pit stops.

Soon to join the downtown food scene is Golden Mall over at 47 Broadway, which will be a seven-floor, 32,000-square-foot iteration of the beloved Flushing food hall. When the downtown spot opens, Lower Manhattanites can find vendors selling Asian fried chicken, bubble tea and desserts, as well as stand-alone restaurants and retail all under one roof.

In another novel concept for the neighborhood, the former Century 21 shoe department at 10 Cortlandt Street has found new life as Barcade. The bar and old-school arcade opened its newest two-floor location in Lower Manhattan, offering food, drinks, and games — and even offers family hours on Sundays. 

We know we are in a challenging retail environment. But Lower Manhattan is meeting this challenge by finding new uses for older spaces. This is a time to be bold, welcome change and swing big. For commercial inspiration, look downtown.