PENN District poised to grow by another block, replacing ‘junky retail’ — NYC loses retail giant

Vornado Realty Trust’s PENN District transformation is poised to grow by another whole block.

The powerful REIT plans to create what a source called a “cohesive street-level experience” on both sides of Seventh Avenue between West 33rd and 34th streets, replacing what Vornado chairman Steve Roth recently called “junky retail.”

Vornado quietly bought up one parcel after another on the nondescript but heavily-trafficked block over the past few years. The next step, our sources said, will be demolishing the unattractive small buildings on the east side, to be followed by those on the west side. The few existing tenants are all on short-term leases.

Roth tapped a crack leasing team headed by Newmark’s global retail chairman Mark Masinter to “repopulate,” as our source put it, the old stores with merchants appropriate for the reborn district anchored by Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. Vornado spent $2.5 billion to redevelop old office towers, launch the dining and shopping options inside the Moynihan Train Hall, and install a popular  public plaza on West 33rd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues.

The Newmark leasing team also includes Karen Bellantoni, Jackie Totolo, Pierce Thomspon and Nick Masinter.

The district is now home to more than 5 million square feet of prime office space, 300,000 square feet of public plazas and scores of eating and drinking venues, including huge new Avra inside the Moynihan building and Blue Ribbon Steak & Sushi. Vornado is also landlord to Primark, the international clothing merchant opening its US flagship at 150 W. 34th St.

The new Seventh Avenue storefronts — to be installed inside three-level “retail boxes” — will aim to sign actual stores, not restaurants or fast-food operations. Demolition of old structures is to start later this year with completion of the new spaces targeted for 2027.

Roth tipped the plan, although without details, in Vornado’s third-quarter earnings call in November. He pledged to replace  “junky” retail on the avenue and to lead revitalization of the busy but “deteriorated” 34th Street/Seventh Avenue subway station.

Vornado EVP and co-head of real estate Glen Weiss said his company’s “transformative work is evident  across all corners of the neighborhood. With Newmark, we will make the Penn District retail environment New York’s next big event.”

An even bigger event will be a new skyscraper  to rise on the former Hotel Pennsylvania site. Vornado’s mum on plans but Roth told investors last fall he was in talks with a major tenant to anchor a 1,000 foot-tall tower.

The Big Apple’s retail world lost a true giant with the passing of C. Bradley Mendelson last week. “Brad,” as all knew him, was one of the premier dealmakers at CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers International for over four decades.

Mendelson was a prime mover behind such epochal deals as the opening of Toys ‘R’ Us in Times Square — then the world’s largest toy store — and for bringing a trio of spectacular tenants to  the former 666 Fifth Ave. Landlords and tenants valued his professionalism;  journalists appreciated the inside knowledge he generously, and often amusingly, shared; his colleagues loved the homemade cookies he brought to the office every week.

 A man beloved for many reasons — and for all seasons.

The weekend opening of Milk & Honey cafe at LCOR’s 1515 Surf Ave. was the icing on the cake for the twin-towered project overlooking the Coney Island Boardwalk.

It’s Brooklyn’s third Milk & Honey, the casual eatery with locations in Ditmas Park and Bay Ridge. “It’s the perfect setting for us, right by the beach in a building that’s redefining modern living in Coney Island,” said eatery owner Yasser “Max” Habib.

The rental building is part of a residential development boom along Surf Avenue, which is unrecognizably transformed from what it was just 10 years ago.

The project’s 463 apartments  are 75% leased, including 139 affordable units that are 100% leased.