Time Warner Center’s vertical mall proves success

Eight years after the Time Warner Center opened, the gamble to build an indoor mall so far west in Manhattan has paid off, the New York Times reported.

The Related Companies, developer of the retail portion called the Shops at Columbus Circle, reports that sales are $1,600 per square foot currently, up from $1,000 in 2007. The rest of the Time Warner Center is made up of offices, residential condominiums, the Mandarin Oriental hotel, CNN’s studios and Jazz at Lincoln Center, which is expected to relocate.

“The old adage that New Yorkers won’t go upstairs to shop has been proven wrong by Time Warner Center,” said Michael Lomonaco, the chef and owner of Porter House New York, a restaurant on the top level of the Time Warner Center, that opened in 2006. “A good portion of our guests are walk-in business.” [NYT]