Commercial Klutch: November Edition
Our masked commercial correspondent serves up his monthly dish…Apple is waiting for the right site. Ever since the company signed a lease on 34th Street and then Steve Jobs came to town and cancelled the whole deal, their real estate folks are freaked. Jobs didn’t think the location was ‘Apple’. So team is very cautious…
Our masked commercial correspondent serves up his monthly dish…Apple is waiting for the right site. Ever since the company signed a lease on 34th Street and then Steve Jobs came to town and cancelled the whole deal, their real estate folks are freaked. Jobs didn’t think the location was ‘Apple’. So team is very cautious in BKLYN. Believe it or not, my bet is on Flatbush Avenue.
We love the Christmas Music on Fulton Mall. Heard Frank signing White Christmas, a movie we always watch every holiday season. Rather hear Bing do it, but Frank will suffice. Shake Shack news welcome. Time for a Burger Banger Taste Off. Jake’s, Five Guys, Checkers, Morton’s, Shake….. Marty M as judge? The Mall is part of the story now major retailers can’t find space. TJMaxx, Kohl’s, Best Buy trying…. Not many options. They should be looking Aeropostale opened the 19th and did gigantic numbers the first day.
Major office deals in the works in Brooklyn, from Fort Greene to MetroTech. The market has turned. Prices not moving up much, but ‘velocity’ is bubbling. Retail, condos, rentals, office, all moving more quickly. Williamsburg rentals out of control. Two Trees in dumbo, a key bellwether, had been doing a lease a week all summer. Now on a two a week pace lately. They’d had a 50% drop in inventory since spring. One last thing – which retailer is closing on Front Street in DUMBO? Inquiring minds want to know…..
still assuming Apple will be near BAM. if they want to build, there are some choice parking lots there. that area is suppose to be the “museum district” per those NYC 5-10 yr plans, etc.
DH,
let’s work out the wager details on the BK vs Qns getting apple store 1st.
Apple is the process to move into into Downtown Brooklyn near the courts. They inquired about two spaces in Brooklyn but decided against them both. It won’t be final until early 2012 if it goes through. Their is another prospective space but they are focusing near Fulton. Brooklyn heights proper, on Montague is not good for them, bad street traffic, so-so subway traffic. They are focusing on the courts, transit access, and access to downtown. They could shift closer to Carroll Gardens, but the transit is not ideal.
I can see Steve Jobs saying no to 34th Street. But that’s Manhattan, I think he thinks of those stores as being very important to the brand. Brooklyn is different. As pointed out, Apple Stores are in malls across the country.
BTW, Montague gets a ton of foot traffic including tourist traffic. That’s a plus.
Interesting article. Thank you!
And stray is right. Apple wants to move units, whether they drop calls when you touch ’em wrong or not. They want foot traffic, which rules out Dumbo and rules in pretty much everywhere but. Neighborhood demographics and architecture be damned.
As much as I hate my iphone, apple store would be a great thing for the borough. Widespread business development without corporate welfare (ref. A-Y.)
“Anyone want to run a pool? ”
haha – that would be fun
i bet queens gets one before brooklyn does
am i the one who finds the whole cult of apple rather nauseating and lame?
*rob*
Apple will go where the traffic is. They are in run of the mill malls all over the country from Omaha to Newark, DE. Not every store is an architectural show piece.
Have to agree, Brooklyn Heights may be nice, but it’s not going there. Atlantic over Flatbush anyday, but besides being close to Barney’s they need that excellent space – agree that TJ’s space would have been great.
What about the Fulton Mall end near the Marriot hotel, there is a big space in that Willoughby plaza area?
My fear is that the tease for “Flatbush Avenue” actually means Kings Plaza Mall. Which is practically not in Brooklyn at all for most purposes (no subway goes there, etc).
Flatbush near Fulton Mall is far too ghetto for Apple. It’ll never happen. Never.
If Meier On Prospect Park were zoned for retail, it’s about the only place in Brooklyn I could see Apple wanting to open. But it isn’t.