Meatpacking District, now a retail and tourist destination cemented by last year’s relocation of the Whitney Museum, continues to be reshaped due to rising commercial rents and consequently, rising retail availability rate. Cushman & Wakefield reported the neighborhood’s availability rate at 22.2 percent during the second quarter of 2016 — a 3.9 percentage point increase from the same time last year and a 5.2 percentage point increase from 2013.
Citing climbing costs, Hogs and Heifers, an iconic biker bar on Washington Street, closed last August while Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market is leaving its home of nearly 13 years this month as landlord Midtown Equities seeks to reposition the building. And high-end clothing boutique Scoop NYC closed all of its locations — including two on Washington Street — earlier this year.
As such, there may be a new transformation brewing. Brokers and developers are banking on the district’s transformation into a hub for “experiential” stores, which invite customers to come in and play with various tech gadgets.
Samsung opened its flagship office at 837 Washington Street, a six-story building developed and owned by Taconic Investment Partners and Thor Equities. The tech company rented the entire building and, according to the Wall Street Journal, paid about $500 a square foot for the ground floor and slightly more than $120 a square foot in rent for the floors above. The Samsung “store” — where visitors can’t actually buy any Samsung products — has three floors of interactive stations where people can watch videos on a three-story screen and try out virtual-reality gear.
Next year, Lexus will open a similar concept, Intersect by Lexus, at 412 West 14th Street, which is also owned by Thor. In addition to a showroom, it will include a restaurant, boutique and art gallery.