The Financial District Association, a neighborhood group that joins real estate experts with area retailers, has elected real estate attorney Luigi Rosabianca as the organization’s chairperson.
Among the newly formed group’s priorities for the coming year are luring more retail and residential tenants to the neighborhood.
“We need to continue to collectively show the rest of New York City, as well as prospective business tenants and residents, all that the area has to offer,” Rosabianca said. “However, our primary work will not just be about generating business, retail and new home sales, but will rather be about gaining momentum for FiDi as a growing neighborhood.”
The neighborhood could use a retail boost. Retail in Lower Manhattan cooled in the recession, with rents per square foot dropping to $200 in key areas last year, down from $400 during the boom years. By the third quarter of 2010, the Downtown Alliance found that average rent per square foot for the overall neighborhood had dropped to $148.