New details on retail at the World Trade Center emerged in a Wall Street Journal article last month.
The Westfield Group, an Australian company, won the contract to operate 488,000 square feet of retail at the site in January.
Peter Lowy, Westfield’s managing director, told the Wall Street Journal that he pictures a mix of retail serving luxury shoppers, commuters and residents. One possibility is a dining terrace, similar to a Westfield development in Sydney, “which features smaller versions of sit-down restaurants with open-air kitchens,” according to the Journal.
Westfield ran retail in the World Trade Center before 9/11, but allowed the Port Authority to buy them out several years ago during disagreements about the site’s future. Meanwhile, Westfield advised the Port Authority on retail for free and received the right of first refusal for the site, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“We’re back in there because we believe it’s going ahead and that the buildings will be built, the space will get leased and people will come back to work,” Lowy told the Journal. “There’s clarity. That was our primary reason for coming back.”
