Brookfield snags 7 storefronts on Bleecker Street to combat retail blight

Brookfield Properties has a host of retail storefronts on Bleecker Street and plans to transform the spaces to “attract innovative brands, including e-commerce companies.”

The seven different storefronts are all located between West 10th and West 11th Streets on Bleecker Street. Specifically, the properties Brookfield purchased are located at 350, 367-369, 382-384, and 387 Bleecker Street. The exact terms of the transaction haven’t yet been disclosed.

This stretch of Bleecker Street is lined with boutique and designer stores like Cynthia Rowley, James Perse, and Paul Smith to name a few. Magnolia Bakery is also located at the corner of Bleecker Street and West 11th Street.

The stores Brookfield purchased were either designer stores or empty storefronts. The ones at 367-369 Bleecker Street were home to a Burberry store until recently, and the ones at 382-384 housed a Michael Kors shop and a Havaianas.

In total, these spaces measure 24,000 square feet, and Brookfield said it plans to explore art and cultural programming through its Arts Brookfield programming at these sites, in addition to attracting “digitally-native companies.”

When Magnolia Bakery was featured on a Sex and the City back in 2000, designers flocked to this portion of Bleecker Street to setup shop. In recent years however, this stretch has experienced a retail blight, similar to the one being felt across the city. Brookfield is now looking to turn things around a little bit in the West Village.

• The rise and fall of Bleecker Street as high-end retail destination [Curbed]
• New York’s small businesses seek a reprieve to combat retail blight [Curbed]
• De Blasio hints at ‘vacancy fee’ for landlords of empty storefronts [Curbed]