Brookfield Place: The Big List

Brookfield Place WestI think we’re all a little bit excited, exhausted, confused—take your pick—by the barrage of announcements about the shops and restaurants coming to Brookfield Place (as the World Financial Center is now known) and the World Trade Center. (And just wait till the Fulton Center and South Street Seaport start revving up.) So here’s a rundown of everything that’s coming to Brookfield Place. I’ll tackle the World Trade Center next….

FOOD

Le District
Le District is Brookfield Place’s answer to Eataly (rumored for 4 World Trade Center, it bears mentioning), a French marketplace run by Peter Poulakakos of Harry’s Italian and Financier, “adjoining the Winter Garden’s south side at the foot of 225 Liberty St. (the previous 2 WFC), with a mind-boggling 1,000 seats indoors and outdoors [and] comprising more than 37,000 square feet.,” reported the New York Post. “Poulakakos described Le District as ‘a new and improved way of sharing food and beverages, in a fun experiential way as opposed to just sitting in a restaurant.’ It will open in stages roughly between March and November 2015. […] Le District will contain four mini-districts. A restaurant section will boast two sit-down spots including outdoor seats facing the marina.” Previous reports had one likely focusing on seafood. “A cafe area will have what Poulakakos calls ‘sweet tooth kinds of things’ including coffee bars and pastries. The market section will feature specialized purveyors of cheese, wine, charcuterie and seafood as well as a large butcher station, while a ‘garden’ zone will offer everything from prepared foods to flowers.”

Hudson Eats
Above Le District is the 35,000-square-foot Hudson Eats, a food court in denial (“dining terrace” is the preferred term). From the New York Post: “Its 14 high-end ‘fast-casual’ counters […] will serve 600 diners,” which must mean 600 seats, with a lot of take-back-to-the-office orders. It’s slated to open May 10. (UPDATE: More like May 17 at the earliest.) Who’s onboard:

••• L.A. chain Umami Burger
••• Asian sandwicherie Num Pang
••• Little Muenster (grilled cheese sandwiches)
••• Dos Toros Taqueria of Brooklyn
••• Chop’t salad chain
••• L.A. cupcake chain Sprinkles
••• Long Island’s low-carb Skinny Pizza chain
••• Dig Inn, American prepared food
••• Blue Ribbon Sushi
••• Olive’s, the Soho takeout restaurant
••• Nolita restaurant Tartinery
••• Mighty Quinn’s Barbeque, of the East Village
••• Black Seed Bagels, which just opened its first shop selling Montreal-style bagels, on Elizabeth St.
••• Northern Tiger (Chinese food from the Yunnan Kitchen folks; opens January)

The Survivors
A few restaurants survived the putsch; not sure where they’ll be.

••• Starbucks
••• Financier
••• P.J. Clarke’s (which will presumably stay where it is, or else why the recent renovation?)
••• The Brookfield Place website says Devon & Blakely is still there, but I have it closing back in July. It also says Au Bon Pain is still open, but to be honest I can’t care enough to investigate.

Freestanding (Relatively) Restaurants on Vesey

••• Parm, Nolita Italian-American sandwich shop. “Unlike Mighty Quinn’s, Umami Burger, Dos Toros, and Num Pang, Parm BPC will be a full-service, sit-down restaurant.” —Eater
••• A restaurant from Philadelphia chef Jose Garces; “the 7,200-square-foot space will include outdoor seating on Vesey Street.” —Grub Street
••• I heard that Jean-Georges Vongerichten had taken the third and final space (“being held for a ‘Michelin-type’ fine dining venue,” according to the Post), but his camp told Eater nothing had been decided yet. (The Post says there are five spaces along Vesey, but I only see three, and later in the article it says that Parm and the Garces restaurant will open sometime around when Le District does.) UPDATE: It’s not Vongerichten. It’s an 11,000-square-foot outpost of L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, replete with bar and lounge. It’ll look like the one in London, and it’s shooting to open in March 2015.

Brookfield Place VeseySHOPPING

Brookfield Place’s website says the shops will open in the spring of 2015, and I’ve heard the company is insisting all the shops open simultaneously. The website says there will be “more than 40” retailers; Racked said there are no more spaces available, but in a more recent post, Downtown Post NYC has the mall at 80% rented. Either way, many have not been announced yet or many of these were combined. Here’s who has signed on….

••• Hermès: “Just to the left of the new giant glass-boxed entry way off West Street as the escalators emerge upwards from the East-West Connector of the World Trade Center. […] According to floor plans, the store is one of the largest at 6,354 square feet, but no one would confirm the footage.” —New York Post
••• Ermenegildo Zegna menswear: “3,550-square-foot deal for a two-story store that will feature a 40-foot-tall glass façade on the north side of a new glass-cube atrium entrance on West Street” —Commercial Observer
••• Salvatore Ferragamo, “4,200 square-foot boutique, where it will sell shoes, handbags, luggage, belts, fine jewelry, silks, perfumes and eyewear along with […] ready-to-wear fashion collections.” —New York Post
••• Theory: “2,480 square feet in the street-level courtyard.”
••• Judith & Charles, women’s fashion
••• Scoop (no clue if it’s women’s fashion only or will include men’s)
••• Michael Kors: “1,700-square-foot accessories shop.” —Racked
••• Calypso St. Barth: 1,400-square-foot store (could the W. Broadway one be in peril…?)
••• Bonobos menswear: “1,140 square feet on the second floor” —Wall Street Journal
••• Diane von Furstenberg: 2,000-square-foot store. —Racked
••• Posman Books: 2,000 square feet. —Wall Street Journal
••• Paul Smith: “2,555 square-foot-shop will offer men’s and women’s apparel.” —Wall Street Journal
••• J. Crew: 6,859-square-foot store (that’s big, so presumably it’ll have men’s and women’s clothing). —Wall Street Journal
••• Cos Bar cosmetics chain. —Racked
••• Aspinal of London, makers of leather goods, silk scarves, etc.: “Just over 1,000 square feet [with] 100 feet of windows overlooking the redesigned Winter Garden.”
••• Burberry: “5,000 square feet of space in the Winter Garden; selling men’s and women’s fashion and accessories. —Racked (although this does not yet appear on Brookfield Place’s website)
••• Eileen Fisher is said to be in the works. —New York Post
••• Saks Fifth Avenue: “The full-line department store would take”—it’s not signed yet—”a significant amount of space in the shopping center.” —WWD
••• Vince fashion boutique. —New York Times
••• Vilebrequin men’s swimwear. —Racked
••• Tory Burch. —WWD via Racked
••• Babesta. —Tribeca Citizen
••• Satya Jewelry. —Daily News
••• Lululemon (“2,993 square feet in the courtyard, next to Jose Garces‘ Spanish tapas restaurant, Amada”). —Commercial Observer
••• Omega watches (“3,000 square feet in the winter garden below and to the side of Hudson Eats”). —Commercial Observer
••• Davidoff cigars (“1,928-square-foot boutique with its own ventilated smoking lounge”). —Daily News

courtesy Brookfield Place

MISCELLANEOUS

••• Equinox: “35,000 square feet on the second and third floors of the complex […] to open in the fourth quarter of 2014. —Crain’s
••• The Institute of Culinary Education cooking school: “Scheduled to open in late 2014, will span 71,000 square feet across the 2nd and 3rd floors” —Commercial Observer
••• Bright Horizons Family Solutions child care “is shooting for mid-2014 to move into a two-story, 6,600-square-foot space at 200 Liberty St., between the West Side Highway and South End Street. The deal includes space on the ground and second floors.” —Crain’s

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8 Comments

  1. umami and hermes. done.

  2. Thanks for all of this! It’s good to have it all on one place. There were 2 Devon & Blakelys. The one that was on Vesey Street, next to the American Express tower, closed. The other one is in the south octagon on Liberty street, next to the Starbucks. It’s still there. The Au Bon Pain, which is on South End, is still there, and the Bright Horizons, also on South End, looks like it’s almost ready to open.

  3. Isn’t some portion of the food supposed to open in early May? I’m a tad confused on that point. Perhaps it has been pushed back?

  4. Great writeup. Thanks!

  5. Don’t shoot the messenger but I had chats with a couple of the guards there today and they both said the food court is now scheduled to open May 17. It could go on like this for awhile, you know.

  6. It looks like they’re just finishing the build of the space, but very little activity in the actual restaurants getting set up. I’m sure they’re all going to need at least a week to set up and get revving.

  7. They have closed off the south lobby with the giant floor-to-ceiling sign that said “coming in 2013” so if that’s not progress, I don’t know what is.