Vanderbilt Hall

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking for restaurants to fill two spaces in Grand Central Terminal that have never before been available and could generate $20 million in annual revenue, according to Crain’s. One space is 12,000 square feet on the west end of Vanderbilt Hall, centered around a 2,100-square-foot space that used to be a hair salon. The restaurant would put seats in the hall itself and could extend as far back as the Times Square Shuttle passage for a takeout shop. The other space is a 5,000-square-foot balcony that is currently used for storage above the food market. [more]

The Grand Central Apple store (credit: Architect’s Newspaper)

The press has been let into the much-discussed Apple store at Grand Central Terminal, set to open Friday, according to USA Today. The tech giant is paying $60 per square foot for the 23,000-square-foot store, one of its largest, and will make shopping as simple as possible for rushed commuters, allowing them to purchase the company’s products without the help of a sales assistant. They can simply slide an iPhone across a product’s bar code and grab the item. The receipt is delivered to them via email. While State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli previously blasted station-owner, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the deal with Apple, the MTA is continuing to defend the transaction and the intrinsic value of having the company in the building. [USA Today] [more]

From left: State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and renderings of the Apple store in Grand CentralThe sweetheart deal that Apple got to open a store in Grand Central Terminal has caught the attention of State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, according to the New York Post, and he’s launched an investigation into whether the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was overly generous with the lease terms.

Apple is paying less rent than most other tenants, including neighbors on the balcony, and is the only of the 100 retailers in the terminal that doesn’t have to share its revenue with the agency. [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]

Sen. Charles Schumer has rescued two Manhattan infrastructure projects from massive budget cuts proposed by the House of Representatives, DNAinfo reported.

If the cuts proposed by the 2012 transportation/housing and urban development appropriations bill had gone ahead, they would have eliminated nearly 50 percent of funding for the East Side Access project, an initiative to dramatically expand the underground rail tunnels at Grand Central Terminal, Schumer’s office said, and cut $197 million in funding for the Second Avenue Subway.

“While the cuts passed in the House put the project on life support, I am pleased we were able to beat back these cuts and keep the [East Side Access] project moving forward,” Schumer said. [more]

Apple is coming to the Grand Central balcony

After months of speculation, it seems that tech giant Apple may have finally come to a deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to open a store in Grand Central Terminal. According to the New York Post, Apple has signed a 10-year deal to open a 23,000-square-foot store on the north and northeast balconies, pending approval from the MTA’s board of directors.

MTA documents seen by the Post show that Apple will pay $800,000 per year in rent and will pay to refurbish the space. After ten years, that fee would increase to $1 million per year.

Apple’s prospective space was formerly occupied by Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant, which paid almost half a million less than what Apple will be paying, the Post said. [more]

Shake Shack is eyeing a space at Grand Central Terminal, a spokesperson told DNAinfo, and has filed its application with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

“As we expand Shake Shack we are looking to make our home in vibrant locations throughout New York City and beyond,” the spokesperson said. “We are interested in exploring the idea of bringing a Shake Shack to Grand Central, and have responded to the MTA’s [request for proposals].”

Shake Shack is reportedly interested specifically in the Zocalo restaurant space on the Lower Level Dining Concourse, according to Gothamist. [more]

Ten short years ago the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was scratching and clawing for whatever high-profile tenant it could land in the newly renovated Grand Central Terminal. Today, the MTA has a strict process for approving whatever companies apply for space in the transit hub.

According to the New York Times, the agency can be a difficult landlord as it doesn’t display any loyalty to tenants whose leases expire — current tenants must re-apply in a manner similar to any prospective tenants — and insists on the right to approve materials, design plans and colors that shop owners use.
[more]

Apple could be coming to the Grand Central balcony

Apple is among the retailers interested in renting a 15,320-square-foot space in Grand Central Terminal that comprises two adjacent balconies on the north and east sides of the transit hub, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is seeking a single renter for the space, part of which is currently occupied by Metrazur restaurant, which is set to close July 1. Though Charlie Palmer, the celebrity chef who runs the restaurant, said the location is “doing well,” he is seeking to profit off the money a new tenant would pay him to vacate the lease, which is not set to expire until 2019. According to the Journal, the MTA hopes and expects that Apple will get in on the bidding. [more]

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4. Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” top for product placement
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6. Are you a fool for buying a home in this market?
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10. A first look at Chelsea’s new Hotel Americano
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