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]

The same retail market dynamics that helped push galleries and boutiques from Soho to other neighborhoods like Chelsea are now luring them back to their original home. According to the Wall Street Journal, lower rents along West Broadway have made it appealing to the types of shops that once called Broadway, Spring and Prince streets home.

A wave of galleries and boutiques have moved onto the street in recent months, thanks to rents that sit at just $200 per square foot, compared to the $400 per foot landlords on the street were charging three years ago. It’s also far less than the $500 per-square-foot landlords of retail spaces on Broadway, Prince and Spring streets are commanding. [more]

Several real estate and hotel experts came together yesterday evening at Citibank at 399 Park Avenue to discuss the roles of retail and hospitality in New York City’s revitalization at a panel discussion organized by the New York area chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Women’s Network.

Barbara Champoux, immediate past president of the CREW chapter and a partner at Crowell & Moring, moderated the panel that included Riyaz Akhtar, executive vice president of development of Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Retail Group, Andrew Jackson, project manager of the Hudson Companies and Amelia Lim, executive vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. — Miranda Neubauer [more]

From the October issue: In 21st-century New York, watching a movie no longer requires leaving the apartment. Thanks to the likes of Netflix and On Demand, a seemingly inexhaustible supply of films and TV shows now appears at the touch of a button.

But what about those who want to pick out a movie at an actual video store? These days, that’s becoming more and more difficult. The number of video rental shops fell 17 percent in the city from 885 in 2002 to 731 in 2007, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.

Movie rental giant Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 in 2010. And, many mom-and-pop video rental stores have closed, too, as a result of online competition, following in the footsteps of other contracting industries like bookstores (see Borders) and music shops (see Tower Records) that have also shuttered in the last few years. [more]

Ben Ashkenazy, chairman and CEO of Ashkenazy Acquisition, and the Limelight at 656 Sixth Avenue

In an unconventional move raising eyebrows among retail brokers, the affordably-priced pancake restaurant IHOP is moving to Ashkenazy Acquisition’s Limelight Marketplace, the former church and nightclub at 656 Sixth Avenue in Chelsea, a spokesperson for Ashkenazy told The Real Deal.

The announcement comes only weeks after an IHOP opened at 235 East 14th Street, between Second and Third avenues. That location is now projected to be among the top three grossing stores per square foot in the nation, Ashkenazy’s spokesperson, Ronn Torossian, said. [more]

The third annual GreenPearl New York event titled “Beyond Distress” was attended by over 450 real estate professionals. Witkoff Group Chairman Steve Witkoff delivered the keynote address, focusing on his acquisition of the International Toy Center at 1107 Broadway from Lehman Holdings. Mark Gorton, founder of Tower Research Capital, and the originator of Limewire — an early file-sharing program that resembled Napster — discussed the impact closing parts of Times Square to automobiles has had on businesses and the environment.

The event’s first panel, “Battlefield for New York,” included an impressive list of real estate experts, including Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the retail group at Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Afterwards, Ryan Slack, the CEO of GreenPearlEvents, confided that attendance was down from the first year’s event — “The Distressed Real Estate Summit” — which attracted over 750 attendees. He speculated that the difference is probably due to the fact that a lot of those individuals are either out of the industry or have realized that the deals for forty cents on the dollar just never materialized. – Marc Becker [more]

Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross and the Shops at Columbus Circle

To the surprise of early critics, the Shops at Columbus Circle have been a resounding success, and now Related Companies is revamping the mall’s tenants in hopes of boosting profits, Crain’s reported.
Wary of a mall in Manhattan, some high-priced retailers shunned the mall when it launched seven years ago. But now that it has proven successful, Related is pushing some lower-revenue tenants to leave before their 10-year leases expire, in the interest of finding luxury — and higher-paying — tenants. Crain’s said over the next 18 months about a dozen new, mostly high-fashion stores, will come to the mall. [more]

From left: Joseph Sitt, CEO of Thor Equities, Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing at Prudential Douglas Elliman, Louis Greco, principal at SDS Procida, and Paula Del Nunzio, senior vice president at Brown Harris Stevens

Impending doom or exaggeration by media spin doctors? While economists remain divided over the long-term implications of the Standard & Poor’s treasury bond downgrade for U.S. residential and commercial real estate, New York City’s real estate pros are keeping upbeat. The Big Apple, they said, is the best place to weather the storm.
S&P downgraded the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+ Aug. 5, after much debate in Congress over raising the nation’s debt ceiling. The downgrading of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac soon followed.
The Real Deal talked to some of the city’s most well-known brokers and developers in the wake of these events to find out whether they were shocked by the downgrade and what effect they expect it to have on their livelihoods.
While they disagreed on the immediate impact the downgrade might have on market activity and whether or not we’re headed for full-scale economic Armageddon, they all agreed there wasn’t a better city than New York in which to watch the action unfold. Click here to see what they had to say. [more]

Vacant storefronts in prime city areas are finding tenants, and many stores are seeing rents as high as they were in 2007. In order to survive, or find a bargain, retailers are getting creative and looking in less popular neighborhoods, or on side streets, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“It’s a tale of two cities,” said Gene Spiegelman, a broker at Cushman & Wakefield, of the price gap.
In 2008, retail vacancy reached 9 percent on the desirable upper stretch of Fifth Avenue, according to data provided by Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing and sales at Prudential Douglas Elliman. The vacancy rate now sits around 7.5 percent. Rents fell to less than $2,000 a square foot, still the highest in the city. The vacancy rate hit 15 percent on Madison Avenue, according to Consolo, while in Soho, the rate went above 11 percent. [more]

Though the recovering market has brought a new wave of buyers snapping up high-priced homes in luxury condominiums, down at sea level that tide hasn’t turned. According to the New York Times, retail space on the ground floor of these new developments has been slow to find tenants. River Lofts in Tribeca, 165 Charles Street, 100 11th Avenue, One Jackson Square, 111 Central Park North and be@schermerhorn are just a few of the relatively new developments saddled with significant retail vacancies. But the Times said that fact is not necessarily a bad thing. [more]