High-fashion designers Tom Ford and Giorgio Armani and luxury jeweler Tiffany & Company appear set to occupy three of the coveted street-level stores in the under-construction World Trade Center shopping complex, multiple retail sources told The Real Deal.
Landing the luxury brands will be a coup for the Australian-based mall operator Westfield Group, which completed its $1.4 billion purchase of the 365,000 square feet of retail development from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in March.
Westfield is locked in a battle for high-end tenants with Brookfield Office Properties’ Neighboring Brookfield Place. Brookfield is nearing completion of a $250 million redevelopment of 200,000 square feet of retail, and has courted and won over brands such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Hermes and Burberry, the company has announced, in addition to J. Crew, Paul Smith and Posman Books, which were revealed today.
Previous news reports said Apple, Victoria’s Secret, Michael Kors and other non-luxury brands had committed to the Westfield space, although no high-fashion brands have been publicly tied to the mall. The property is scheduled to open in 2015.
The World Trade Center Street-level retail provides enormous visibility for the retailers from the millions of tourists that visit Lower Manhattan each year. But the brands also give Westfield and the entire project a boost of luxury credibility, insiders said. Westfield, which has not announced any deals, declined to comment.
Tom Ford is expected to take a corner in the base of 4 World Trade Center, while Armani and Tiffany will likely take space in 3 World Trade Center next door, sources said. Each store would have entrances on Church Street, between Liberty and Fulton streets.
It was not clear which Armani brand will take the space, and brokers gave conflicting information as to which one they thought would move in.
Tom Ford, Armani and Tiffany did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CBRE Group’s Andrew Goldberg and Annette Healey represent Tiffany in North America. The brokerage declined to comment.