Making retail a priority.

We are leasing agents for many of the new retail projects in Manhattan, all of which form the base of new high-rise luxury buildings.

And with the potential retail income being the driving force in new construction and complete building renovations, priorities have to be placed on designing the retail portion to conform to both the tenant's physical and operational requirements in order to make each project a success. The retail component becomes the priority because the signatures of the national credit tenants who lease these spaces provide support for the buildings' financing. The size of the retail portion should conform to it's location and have enough support from the neighboring retail tenants to justify the size of the new retail construction.

Based on the size and location of each project, we devise a master plan for the retail. This includes identifying which tenants belong where, followed by an architect laying out the floorplans based on initial interest.

In representing The Related Companies at Union square South, our CEO, Robert Futterman, working with Jeff Blau of Related, pushed their talents and patience to the limit in the successful completion of leasing 300,000 square feet to Virgin Megastore, Circuit City and UA Theaters. These tenants form the base of the residential building.

Before a shovel was placed in the ground, several big box tenants were lined up, and then the most difficult and strenuous part began - how to fit everybody into the box, give theme good signage, good street access and most importantly, provide a way for them to take deliveries. The operations groups for each of these chains had to create new ways for their stores to operate in Manhattan and also comply with the various codes. Ultimately, major portions of the retail were designed with column-free areas to conform to operations and design criteria for the tenants.

Typically, in residential construction, when little consideration is given to retail design, support columns will show up in the retail portion in various places, making it difficult to lay-out stores with straight demising walls that will accept the standard installations of many chains. As a result, many national chains reject these locations.

We are also the exclusive agents for Armory Place, located on West 14th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues. Armory Place will be a new 300,000 square-foot residential building with two levels of retail at its base totaling 76,000 square feet.

Here, the developer, ORDA Management, is also taking a careful approach to designing the retail portion prior to groundbreaking. By taking this careful approach, Armory Place can satisfy even the most discriminating retailers. Column spacing, vertical transportation, loading areas and ceiling height requirements for all chains can be accommodated in this project.

At 510 Sixth Avenue, Mosbacher Properties is doing a complete building renovation of this 250,000 square-foot property into luxury residential condominiums, with 50,000 square feet of retail at the base on the ground floor, lower level and sub-level.

In this situation, the developer has placed separate priorities for both the retail component and residential component. The priority for the residential is to not have a retailer on the ground floor that will adversely affect the sale price of the condominiums. At the same time, the national credit signature from the retail area will help with building financing.

While national credit tenants with good signatures are a must for most of these projects, developers who are already financed and don't need the signature, usually have a larger pool of tenants from which to choose. In these instances, the financing aspect of the project doesn't put constraints on leasing. One such project that falls into this category is 750 Sixth Avenue, being built by the Albanese Development Corporation of Garden City. 750 Sixth Avenue will be a 30-story, 300-unit luxury residential building with 15,000 square feet of retail stores on the ground floor. Several divisions of the space are being offered to fill the requirements of different retailers.

At 105 West 42nd Street, a two-story retail building and an Americas Partners property, we have taken a 6,500 square-foot footprint and divided the ground floor into small units with 11 feet of 42nd Street frontage. As a result, we are achieving annual rentals of $200 per square foot.