Remember this shopping mall that sounded super dope?
Right by the World Trade Center transportation hub, soon you can get your shoppin' fix right before and/or after your longer-than-long commute.
At least, that's the way things were supposed to go. We've been starved for this mall, but delays just keep us hangin' on. Recently, Curbed and The Real Deal served up another piece of disappointment pie.
Four retailers have walked away from their leases, and delayed construction means the mall's August 16th opening could be less like a bang and more like a whimper.
The four stores, Dune London, Bebe, True Religion, and Fika, might not be household names, but H&M is.
This potential fifth for the big bang (as in, "Bang! WTF?! Why aren't you open yet?), the fancy schmancy store's similar inability to open on August 16th could turn the mall into a mall-soleum. Like, do you get it? Mall-soleum?
If Westfield, the company managing the mall's operations, can't lease 70 to 85 percent of the mall space, then the remaining tenants only have to pay a percentage of the rent.
[anad]
So basically, uh, yeah a quick recap: Construction delays (ick!) mean late openings and, in some cases, departures. Late openings mean (blerg) less active retail space.
Less active retail space equals less total revenue (ack!), and as such, we'll probably have to find our retail therapy elsewhere.
So back to the point: remember when Port Authority refused to have a grand opening ceremony for Oculus, citing it as the $1.4 billion "symbol of excess?"
Well, at this point it's literally just becoming a symbol; something representative of another thing without any real substance to it. Honestly, we're mainly surprised that Port Authority's insult in this matter went from empty barb to family curse like that. Oculus might be doomed.
[via Curbed] [Feature Image Courtesy Instagram]