Amazon, the great slayer of department stores and mom-and-pops, is retrofitting the old Lord & Taylor flagship store (RIP) into its NYC headquarters (go figure). While many of us have been coping with WFH and self-quarantining by indulging in online shopping, the tech giant has been growing at an even more amazing rate, to the detriment of brick and mortar stores far and wide.
Flush with cash, in August it was announced that the company will spend $1.4 billion to further expand into six cities including New York, where the company already has a 5,000-employee-strong workforce. From our offices, we can see an American flag has been pitched atop its future NYC headquarters at 424 Fifth Avenue, symbolizing that its modest single-floor rooftop addition capping the 1917 building is now topped out.
The 676,000-square-foot Beaux-Arts landmark will accommodate two thousand Amazon workers across 13 floors and is pegged to open sometime late next year. While Amazon reportedly plans to offer its staff flexibility while the pandemic rages on, the company has seen challenges with training new employees and has experienced elongated timelines for projects due to WFH.
The glass-clad addition and rooftop garden is being designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and was approved by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission back in May. The e-tailer acquired the building from Hudson’s Bay Co. for $1.15 billion after a previous deal with co-working company WeWork fell apart earlier this year.
Conveniently, the headquarters will be a half-mile north of 212 Fifth Avenue, the NoMad office-turned-condo where Amazon CEO/world's richest person, Jeff Bezos, purchased the penthouse and two units below for a sum of $80 million. The deal shattered records last year and became the priciest apartment sold downtown, but the buyer, who has a net worth of $177.4 billion, likely didn't flinch. With another purchase earlier this spring, Bezos now owns $96 million worth of real estate in the building alone.
Typical Fifth Avenue street scene prior to the pandemic and back when Lord & Taylor was still around
The building stands on a rather sorry stretch of Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park/New York Public Library and the Empire State Building. Typically teeming with tourists and office workers, there are now a plethora of vacant storefronts and souvenir shops. Perhaps better late than never, Mayor Bill de Blasio last week approved Open Storefronts, a program allowing NYC's physical retailers to take advantage of the open streets program by peddling their goods on our sidewalks, streets, and designated open spaces. But as we await the results of the election of our lifetime, Manhattan's retail scene has never looked so dejected, especially as many stores have taken precautions against possible protests, riots, and looting, by boarding up their storefronts.
Directly across from the ESB, the Amazon books store is one of the few storefronts not boared up as of Election Day morning. Looters don't like books? Amazon also has office space above in the building
Boarding up Banana Republic in our-newly established Banana Republic
No need to board up if you're already out of business. These two Herald Towers storefronts held a Gap and a Centrury 21 pop up
Herald Square with media cameras and the now-ubiquitous delivery carters/bikers
If Amazon and COVID-19 have their way, Macy's may become the world's largest dinosaur
Manhattan's most iconic department store, Macy's, has plans to throw an office tower on top of the store
Midtown and 34th Street on Election night
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