Neil Hughes
As rumors swirl that Apple is planning a new retail location near Atlantic Terminal and Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn, the company's iconic Fifth Avenue cube in midtown Manhattan will temporarily relocate as renovations take place.
Apple reportedly signs lease for second Brooklyn store
Late last year, Apple may have signed a 10-year lease for a new retail location in Fort Greene, near downtown Brooklyn, according to sources who spoke with The Real Deal. Specifically, the company is said to have inked an agreement for space at a new building located at 300 Ashland Place.
The location makes sense, as it is just steps away from Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn's largest transportation hub, serving as a bridge between New York City and residents of Long Island. The spot, formerly known as BAM South, is also near the Barclays Center, where the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and the NHL's New York Islanders play.
Also in the area are the Atlantic Center and Atlantic Terminal shopping malls, home to such major tenants as Best Buy, Target, Old Navy, and even the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.
The rumors suggest Apple is looking to expand in Brooklyn only months after its first retail store in New York City's most populous borough opened its doors. The first Brooklyn Apple store is located in the neighborhood of Williamsburg, a few miles north of downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene.
Fifth Avenue cube moving for renovations
Meanwhile Apple's iconic Fifth Avenue store, featuring a striking glass cube entrance to the underground shop, will be temporarily relocating to accommodate for renovations.
Starting this week, Apple posted signs at the Fifth Avenue store announcing that the temporary location will open starting January 20. The announcement was first reported by MacRumors.
Apple's Fifth Avenue store, located next to Central Park in Manhattan, resides at the foot of the General Motors building, at the corner of 59th Street.
The ground floor of that building was previously occupied by FAO Schwarz. Its departure will allow Apple to occupy the space as renovations take place, a move that was first revealed in June of 2015.
The last major change to the Fifth Avenue outlet came in 2011, when Apple replaced the glass cube with a simpler design using fewer but larger panes. The store is Apple's only location that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, normally shutting down only in emergencies or in preparation for new products.
Stephen Silver
Christine McKee
Charles Martin
Amber Neely
2 Comments
Inauguration Day?
hmmmm.
While that Ashland Place development looks like it will be very nice and there's tons of new development around it, so it will eventually be very dense with people with money, there's also still some really dumpy-looking areas right nearby, especially on the west side of Flatbush Avenue where there are some especially ugly buildings and pawn shops. And there's also the nearby Atlantic Terminal Mall, which is a really low-end and ugly mall. (I hope that eventually gets replaced - it never should have been built near BAM).
On the other hand, Park Slope and several brownstone neighborhoods are right nearby, plus there's all those new buildings going up around where the store is proposed to be, so a store there could potentially do very well, although parking around there is near impossible.
I was a bit surprised that Apple didn't go into the new City Point mall a few blocks North where a new Alamo Drafthouse theater is located (and the first branch of Katz's deli is opening). And a few years back, the (former) Brooklyn Borough President was trying to get Apple to go into a location near Brooklyn Borough Hall, which is also near MetroTech, and while a bit older, is adjacent to lots of tech companies.
It's amazing what's going on in downtown Brooklyn. The area is unrecognizable from 20 years ago. I don't know where all these people with money are coming from. Personally, I think they're overbuilding and a lot of those apartments are going to be empty for a long time, but I've been wrong about this before. And of course, a lot of lower- and middle-income people were forced out of their apartments/homes in the name of luxury development.