RXR Realty reportedly plans to add a 50,000-square-foot retail space at the Starrett-Lehigh Building, one of the well-known and premier landmark properties in Manhattan, New York City. This is to provide amenities for office tenants who are seeking shopping options on the Far West Side, according to reports.
The Real Deal reported that the landlord is planning to swap spaces with Verizon to free up the enitre block along 11th Avenue, which is between West 26th and West 27th Streets. The telecom company occupies the ground and second floors, using the space as a dispatch service center for their customers. They then agreed to move their operations to the other side of the building on the 12th Avenue.
RXR purchased the 2.3 million-square-foot building for $920 million in 2011 and called it as a creative office hub for tenants. These tenants include advertising firm McGarry Bowen, Martha Stewart's media company, and fashion brand Ralph Lauren, which extended its space in the building to 100,000 square feet in 2015.
Although the effort has been considered successful, the Starrett-Lehigh Building is located a few blocks south of Hudson Yards and along the Far West Side, where there are very limited retail options. Thus, to be able to serve its office tenants, RXR has been calling food trucks to get into the building's office floors through the oversized elevators.
Starrett-Lehigh is also home to some well-known tenants, including apparel companies Tommy Hilfiger and Club Monaco, noted Crain's New York. Although thousands of workers are coming into the building every day, properties nearby do not have much in terms of restaurants and stores.
RXR is in the first stages of building out the retail and has not hired an architect to work on the space's designs yet. They are expecting to start building by next year and follow other renovations made by the landlord to Starrett-Lehigh.
The realty company expanded and renovated the building's lobby in 2015. They also upgraded the property's common corridors and installed a gym for tenants.
