Wall St. As Shopping Mecca?

A developer wants to transform a bank into a shopper's delight. Could this be the development that transforms the area into a 24/7 urban CBD?

1 minute read

February 10, 2006, 1:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"Could a lease by one of the world's high-fashion retailers provide the long-awaited key to unlocking Wall Street's perennial retail freeze, and beyond that, to thawing out the district's commercial cold spell?

Years before the attacks of 9/11 destroyed the popular retail concourse at the World Trade Center, boosters of downtown Manhattan had pushed hard, but with little success, to bring better, bigger and more exciting stores to the Financial District. The scarcity of restaurants and high-quality shopping outlets hurt both office and residential growth. As financial services firms migrated to Midtown Manhattan and to the World Financial Center, with its self-contained restaurants and shopping, the 9-to-5 quality of street life has been exacerbated by the absence of residents in the historic Wall Street core. The non-shopping environment has been a major obstacle to transforming the area into a 24/7 urban CBD."

Thanks to Peter Slatin

FULL STORY: Selling Spaces On Wall St

Thursday, February 9, 2006 in The Slatin Report

Architecture Urban Development World

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Start Learning

Advertise with us

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.