It's taken more than 10 years, but it looks like a comprehensive, detailed plan for new retail at the World Trade Center site has finally been established. The Architect's Newspaper reports that three separate hubs, including an existing one at World Financial Center, would combine to form about 635,000 sq. ft. of retail space downtown.
The hubs, including 70,000 sq. ft. of retail at the Fulton Street Transit Station, 365,000 sq. ft. at the new World Trade Center and 200,000 sq. ft. at World Financial Center, will be connected by underground tunnels and pedestrian passageways.
Back in its heyday, the 400,000-sq.-ft. mall underneath the original World Trade Center was among the most profitable in the country. A press release from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey outlines conditions at the mall in February 2001. At the time, the Port Authority expected sales at the complex to reach $900 per sq. ft. before the end of the year. With the residential renaissance that has taken place in the area in the decade since the terrorist attacks, the new retail hub is likely to be even more successful.