Grand Central TerminalIn the latest twist to the saga of Apple’s lease at Grand Central Terminal, the State Assembly will also investigate the terms of the company’s alleged “sweetheart” deal, the New York Post reported. The store will open tomorrow.
The Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, which has authority over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a state agency, has started assembling documents for an inquiry, the Post said. [more]
While State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has blasted the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for their $60-per-square foot deal with Apple for retail space in Grand Central Station, and plans an investigation, the MTA is keeping its cool, urging politicians and the public to “bring [the investigation] on,” the MTA said in a statement today.
Taken at face value, some observers say, the transaction looks like it gives the MTA — and by extension, the taxpayer — a raw deal. Apple’s rent in their 23,000-square-foot lease is far lower what other tenants pay at the transit and retail hub (Shake Shack will pay $200 per foot for Grand Central space, according to a report Tuesday in the New York Post). Also, the MTA failed to secure a percentage of sales revenue from Apple in their deal, something every other tenant at Grand Central pays. But the agency points to a number of constraints that explain that fact and why the deal generally made sense for the state agency. [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]
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]
From the September issue: With a new Shake Shack in Grand Central, Five Guys all over Midtown and BareBurger in Park Slope and Astoria, the city’s ongoing burger boom is showing no signs of slowing down. But New York only has room for so many burger joints. So which of the many new options are winning over New Yorkers’ stomachs?
Volume-wise, the clear winner is Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which has spread like wildfire over the past few years. Founded in Virginia in 1986, Five Guys was the fastest-growing restaurant chain nationally in 2010, according to Technomic, a market research firm. It currently has nine locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and is expected to open 12 to 20 new locations in the area over the next year, according to Andrew Moger, the CEO of Branded Concept Development, a design and construction firm that has worked with Five Guys.
Known for its made-to-order hamburgers, 11 free toppings and hand-cut fries, Five Guys developed a cult following in Virginia before founder Jerry Murrell started franchising in 2002. The chain is successful, Moger said, because it sticks to what it does best — serving only burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches and fries — at a reasonable price point. [more]
[Updated at 4.50 p.m. with information on the store's construction] The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has quietly
released the renderings of the new Apple Store planned for Grand
Central Terminal, on the agency’s website. The images (see above and below) show what the 23,000-square-foot
property on the terminal’s east balcony could look like. The MTA’s
finance committee approved the deal for Apple to lease the property at
the end of July. Apple is taking over the space from Charlie Palmer’s
Metrazur restaurant, and will be paying significantly higher rent: $1.1 million compared to $263,997. Apple
will also be making improvements to part of the leased property at its
own cost, including the installation of an elevator.
Walking through Grand Central late on Saturday night,The Real Deal spotted that construction on the store has begun (photos are available on our Facebook page). Workmen seemed to be removing the furnishings — mostly tables and chairs — from the former Métrazur space and erecting scaffolding. The construction manager declined any further access to the site. [more]
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed increasing its debt plan to $6.9 billion for its preliminary 2010 to 2014 capital budget at its board meeting this morning, GlobeSt.com reported. Those funds will be one part of the MTA’s $24 billion total capital program, as it seeks to close a $9 billion budget gap, after it already cut $2 billion from the budget last week. The MTA has also considered selling its real estate assets — like its Madison Avenue headquarters — to offset capital program budget deficits. [more]
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s deal to bring both the Apple Store and Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack to Grand Central Terminal moved one step closer to reality this afternoon when the agency’s finance committee gave the plan its official go-ahead. The Apple Store will take over the terminal’s east balcony from Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant, as well as the northeast balcony, which is currently vacant, according to the agenda from today’s meeting. The initial term of the roughly 23,000-square-foot lease will be 10 years with the option for two, five-year renewal periods. Shake Shack’s 10-year lease will be for a 2,270-square-foot space in the dining concourse. [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 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]
