Continuing its trend of opening up grandiose Apple stores in historic and iconic locations, Apple stands poised to open up a gigantic 23,000 square foot retail store in New York’s Grand Central Station.
Apple has reportedly already inked a 10-year lease with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Real Estate and Leasing division. The upcoming retail store will replace Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant and will likely occupy both of the station’s north balconies.
Apple will initially pay rent of $800,000 a year, nearly half a million more than Metrazur paid. After 10 years, the rent will balloon to more than $1 million annually. The company will also pay to refurbish the space.
Apple is of course no stranger to refurbishing up an area to improve the overall aesthetic of its retail stores. Remember that it provided a large sum of money to the city of Chicago to help it renovate a train station located near its semi-new storefront in the trendy part of Lincoln Park, Illinois.
Final approval from the powers that be should be handed down today, and following that, construction may be finalized in as little as four months. As for what the final product will look like, Metro-North Railroad President Howard Permut assured fellow board members that it will “maintain Grand Central as the iconic structure and place that it is.”
via Network World
Wed, Jul 27, 2011
News