The first retail stores at the World Trade Center site could open for business by March 2015, Australian mall operator Westfield announced yesterday. Westfield, which has a 50 percent stake in the WTC site’s retail space, said the first retailers will be announced in the first half of next year. The openings would come more than 13 years after the destruction of the World Trade Center towers.
Peter Lowy, Westfield’s co-chief executive, said he expects a collection of upscale food shops, U.S. and international retailers and a “very good” supermarket to become tenants. Westfield unveiled images of what the new retail spaces may look like at the ICSC retail conference in Las Vegas.
There will be 352,000 square feet of above-ground retail spread across three floors, and two underground levels. The above-ground retail will be housed in 4 World Trade Center, which is under construction, and inside 3 World Trade Center, which is still in the planning stage. Most of the retail will be inside the Transportation Hub, a central stop for several train lines. [Reuters]