Food markets help developers ask top-drawer rents

Trendy food markets are fast becoming the amenity of choice for developers, who rely on their cachet to command top-dollar rents and add authenticity to a new building, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

At least six markets are slated to open in upscale office and residential buildings in the city, including a 5,000-square-foot market at the Gotham Organization’s new residential building at 44th Street and 11th Avenue. David Picket, president of the Gotham Organization, told the Journal he initially wanted a grocery to fill the 15,000-square-foot space at the base of the building, which contains 1200 units, 500 of which are affordable. 

“We were looking for a high-end food use for the space all along. It was too small for a Whole Foods or a Trader Joe’s,” he said.

The food market, which is expected to open in late summer or early fall, features Brooklyn Kitchen, an artisanal food supplies store, as well as the first New York location for ramen maker Ivan Orkin.

At the City Point development in Downtown Brooklyn, Acadia Realty Trust and Washington Square Partners plan to build a 12,000-square-foot market on the former site of Dekalb Market. Washington Square Partners’ Paul Travis told the Journal he expected the market would “attract people to the building.”

And Brookfield Office Properties is building a 25,000-square-foot market at Its Brookfield Place complex in Lower Manhattan, complete with a butcher ship, cheese store, bakery and wine shop. Ed Hogan, national director of retail leasing at Brookfield, told the Journal that the rise of online shopping had made it necessary to add amenities that would draw people into the retail space.

“The store has to offer an experience,” Hogan said. [WSJ]  —Hiten Samtani