BY YANNIC RACK | The Fulton Center, which has been serving straphangers in Lower Manhattan for almost a year, is set to finally become a shopping destination as well.
Although the hub has been open since last November, the glassy storefronts of the center’s four-story atrium are still locked and void of life. But last week representatives from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Westfield, the company that manages the leasing, said that shops will start filling the Fulton space in the fall and continue through 2016.
A spokesperson for Westfield, which also manages the leasing at 3 and 4 World Trade Center nearby, wrote in an email that the center will have more than 20 stores, ranging from retail and service providers to eateries and full service restaurants. That means the businesses can soon get to work on earning back some of the whopping $1.4 billion the project cost the M.T.A.
“Westfield is not yet paying rent to the M.T.A., but is covering the substantial operating expenses that would otherwise fall to us,” Adam Lisberg, a spokesperson for the authority, said. “Thus, we’re confident Westfield is working to open the retail as soon as possible, which will benefit everyone.” Lisberg noted that Westfield was in advanced stages of leasing activity, subtenant design and fit out work, expecting the first openings in the fall.
Westfield won the lease for the center’s 180,000-square-foot retail in 2013 and will manage the space for at least 20 years.
Back then, the Downtown Express reported that none of the 150 businesses that were displaced by the project would get first dibs on the new space. Billy Baldwin, for example, owned a shop called Cookie Island at 189 Broadway until the construction pushed him out in 2005 – and bankrupted his business.
Around noon on Thursday, Aug. 20, some workers appeared to be starting work on getting the commercial space ready. One door on the first floor was open, revealing a largely gutted room.
Ryan Somlai was one of the few passengers walking through the station. He works as a consultant for an office technology company on nearby John St. and said he was looking forward to the businesses moving in. “It might be nice,” he said. “I like this, I mean it’s air-conditioned, it’s got bathrooms and water fountains. That’s definitely a plus. It’s not as hot as other subway stations.”
Somlai added that he used the hub every day to accompany clients to different parts of the city and that he thought New Yorkers would be more drawn to the station’s stores and eateries than tourists. “I think it’ll be a hit among people like me who are travelling and using the Fulton St. station a lot,” he said.
Marc Kremer, who was also passing through, agreed. “I think tourists would prefer somewhere a little more stately,” he said. “This will be for people who are on the go and just need something quick.”
Kremer said he didn’t use Fulton Center regularly, but added that he wouldn’t be interested in the stores and restaurants there anyway. “I would rather shop somewhere that’s not a subway entrance,” he said.
