UPDATED, March 1, 2:58 p.m.: Banished are the Panda Expresses and Sbarros from the food court. No, at the seven-level mall slated for Hudson Yards, the cuisine will be provided by the some of the world’s most renowned chefs.
Dubbed the Shops at Hudson Yards, the adjacent retail complex next to the around $3 billion, 90-story office tower 30 Hudson Yards, will use big name restaurateurs to capture foot traffic, once the domain of retail anchor stores.
Related Cos. executive Kenneth Himmel has been recruiting chefs for the mall, which is slated to open in 2018 and is a key component to the $20 billion project, Bloomberg reported.
“It almost begins with restaurants,” Himmel said. “You cannot talk today about shopping centers or executing great urban mixed-use projects without them.”
Already onboard is Keller for a steakhouse and an American grill, according to Himmel. Then there is Costas Spiliadis of Milos, a lauded seafood restaurant, and tapas master Jose Andrés, who owns restaurants in Washington, D.C., Beverly Hills and Las Vegas.
That’s just the amuse bouche. There will also be six or seven additional restaurants as well as smaller-concept places. Per Himmel, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group will develop a 46,000-square-feet food market at street level next door at an office tower Related is also building (a Meyer spokeswoman told Bloomberg there was no deal in place, although Related owns a partnership stake in Meyer’s hospitality group).
The restaurants are so essential to Related and Oxford Properties Group’s megadevelopment on the Far West Side that they’re part of the pitch to prospective commercial tenants, such as handbag-maker Coach.
High-end And Diverse Dining Can Help Brand The Emerging Neighborhood And Help Prospective Tenants See A Construction Site As A Place where clients can be schmoozed and workers can eat lunch. For landlords battling lower customer demand due to shopping online, restaurants can bring customers.
Related and Oxford secured $5 billion in construction funding for 30 Hudson Yards. [Bloomberg] — Dusica Sue Malesevic
Correction: An earlier version misstated the number of stories and cost of 30 Hudson Yards.