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Old Posted Feb 2, 2011, 2:29 PM
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http://www.globest.com/news/1842_184.../306612-1.html

NYC ‘The Place to Be’ for Retailers

By Paul Bubny
February 1, 2011

Quote:
...Futterman led a discussion—well attended in spite of a dismal weather forecast—in which panelists weighed in on the retail market here from a variety of perspectives. L. Jay Cross, president of Related Oxford Hudson Yards, noted that the retail component of the Far West Side mega-project stood out largely on the basis of its sheer scale. Hudson Yards’ retail alone will be twice the size of the 2.8-million-square-foot Time Warner Center complex, he said.

“The scale sometimes is very daunting, but in the end I think it will be game-changing,” said Cross. It is also likely to draw upon a built-in customer base: in addition to shoppers gravitating from Hudson Yards’ office towers, Cross said the Far West Side is Manhattan’s fastest-growing residential neighborhood but, aside from the Meatpacking District, it is underserved by retail.

If leasing and foot traffic have come back strong, and rents have begun to tick back up as well, then the return of lending is still a ways off. Cross noted that Related Cos.’ partnership with Canada-based Oxford Properties Group, the real estate investment and development arm of the OMERS Worldwide group, gives Hudson Yards a certain amount of pull with lenders that might not be achievable by pure developers. As to whether that will translate into construction financing, Cross said, “We don’t know yet.”

Richard Wagman, managing partner of Madison Capital, noted that compared to a year ago, lenders have been coming back “very quickly,” at least in the sweet spot of loans ranging from $25 million to $100 million. Bragg added, though, that underwriting remains very conservative. “We think that’s a great thing,” she added.
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