A pop-up in Tribeca that pairs lingerie designer the Lake & Stars with architecture firm SOFTLab, and a PayPal pop-up shop at 174 Hudson Street

From the December issue: Temporary retail stores, known as “pop-ups,” have been quite literally popping up in New York City for several years now, often hawking seasonal items at Halloween and Christmas. But a new breed of pop-ups is emerging, industry insiders say: Non-retail ventures, from PayPal to the TV show “Celebrity Apprentice,” are opening temporary locations on New York’s heavily trafficked streets.

“We are seeing some unusual ones, in addition to [temporary] fashion shops,” said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group.

Unlike most pop-up stores, which primarily aim to sell merchandise, these non-retail pop-ups are more focused on publicity and marketing. [more]

Clothing retailer American Apparel has signed a short-term agreement for 17,000 square feet of retail space at the Chelsea Landmark building, developer and building manager Rose Associates announced today.

The lease comes on the heels of several other short-term lease agreements at the Sixth Avenue building, between 25th and 26th streets, with Spirit, a Halloween store that rented the space in September and October, and with furniture store Knoll, which hosted its annual warehouse sale in the space in November. American Apparel is slated to occupy the space between Dec. 13 and Dec. 28, to capitalize on the holiday traffic.

Bruce Spiegel and Bill Bergman of Rose represented the landlord in the transaction. Chris DeCrostas of Thor High Street Advisors represented American Apparel. – Katherine Clarke [more]

Stephen Ross, chairman of the Related Companies, and the Time Warner Center

The Samsung Experience showroom is departing the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in January, the New York Post reported, as 10-year leases signed at the center when the project opened begin to expire.

Samsung’s departure from the third floor, as well as the closure of the Borders bookstore space on the second floor, which is now vacant after the chain went bankrupt, leaves building owner the Related Companies with some interesting leasing options, the Post noted. The 10,000-square-foot Samsung space could be combined with the Borders space to create a duplex. [more]

Construction for the Whole Foods market at the massive $700 million, 1 million-square-foot mixed-use project rising at 250 East 57th Street is complete, according to a statement from the World-Wide Group. The organic grocer has moved into their 39,000-square-foot space on the ground floor and begun building it out.

The site was a hole in the ground just two months ago.

The public-private partnership mixed-use project by World-Wide Group and the Educational Construction Fund will include two new schools, a 59-story residential tower with rental and condominium units, and 78,000 square feet of retail in addition to Whole Foods, which will have entrances on both 56th and 57th streets. – Guelda Voien [more]

Rendering of Grand Central Apple Store

The cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority presented Apple with an unusually favorable deal to take 23,000 square feet of space in the Grand Central Terminal, according to the New York Post.

Not only is Apple paying just $60-per-square-foot, while other tenants, such as Shake Shack, pay upwards of $200 per square foot, but Apple is also under no obligation to kickback a percentage of its sales to the MTA, as all other Grand Central tenants do. The Post said retail analysts believe the store should generate at least $100 million in sales per year. Real estate executives interviewed by the Post expressed some measure of surprise that the agency wasn’t able to recoup some percentage. [more]

A temporary Ricky’s at 2039 BroadwayFor about 10 weeks each autumn, grim retail spaces across the city are enlivened by zombies, vampires, Frankensteins, ghosts and ghouls displayed prominently in brightly lit windows by Ricky’s Halloween stores. But by this time of year, mid-November, the spaces largely revert to their dark, vacant states.

To fulfill the demand for costumes in the days leading up to Halloween, Ricky’s takes 10- week leases, starting in September and running through mid-November in vacant retail spaces across the five boroughs. This year it added 22 such pop-up shops, typically about 2,500 square feet each, to its existing 27 full-time cosmetic stores in the city, according to its real estate broker, Task Realty CEO Adam Stupak. [more]

Express is nearing a deal for 4 Times Square retail space, while the Mary Ann Tighe-led CBRE team that brokered the Coach-to-Hudson Yards deal likely earned $20M in commission. The Brooklyn Navy Yard will open its $27M museum to the public Friday and Coney Island attracted more visitors this summer than it had in any year since Steeplechase Park closed in 1964. Finally, national lobbyists are battling over whether the government should restore higher conforming loan limits. Click here for these stories and more. [more]

The Rising Dragon Chelsea Tattoo Company and the Hotel ChelseaThe first known casualty of the Chetrit Group’s renovation of Hotel Chelsea appears to be the Rising Dragon Chelsea Tattoo Company, a retail tenant on the hotel’s ground floor. According to the New York Times, while it remains unclear what the Chetrits have planned for that particular space, the hotel will get a gym and a rooftop bar.

The tattoo parlor has operated out of the hotel’s ground floor since 1997, and on a month-to-month handshake agreement with the hotel’s previous manager, Stanley Bard, since 2007. [more]

Secaucus, N.J.-based Syms, owner of clothing retailer Filene’s Basement, may be pulling out of plans to lease 34,000 square feet at Crown Acquisitions’ 530 Fifth Avenue because of cash flow problems, Crain’s reported.

The retailer inked a deal for the space last summer, and was scheduled to open in the building, between 44th and 45th streets, this fall, alongside other newcomers like Urban Outfitters, Joe Fresh and Guess. The deal was brokered by Lansco. “It’s a large space and a challenge, but it’s a Fifth Avenue presence,” said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who was not involved in the deal. “The corridor is ripe for discount or affordable fashion,” she noted, adding that Syms has “more headaches than you know.” [more]

Woodside-based Davidovich Bagels is looking to take over the Upper West Side space vacated by H & H Bagels in June, DNAinfo reported.

Marc Fintz, director of business development for Davidovich Bagels, said his company is in talks with landlord Friedland Properties about leasing the 2,100-square-foot storefront at 2239 Broadway. Friedland Properties declined to comment.

“If you’re an insider in the bagel business, the Upper West Side is your proving ground,” Fintz said. “If you can establish yourself there, you’re king of the hill.”

But Fintz said the rent demanded by Friedland would be challenging. He said he wants to talk the landlord down from $950,000 a year. [more]