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TIMES SQUARE IS NOT JUST for tourists anymore, and retailers are taking notice.
Over the past five years, there has been an explosion in the number of office workers in the neighborhood, from investment bankers, lawyers and accountants to media executives totaling some 35,000. Their presence is causing a growing number of high-end restaurateurs and retailers to vie for real estate in this part of the city, which up to 1.5 million people pass through each day.
"The corporate tenants are driving a new level of retail," says Faith Hope Consolo, vice chairman of broker Garrick-Aug Worldwide. "It's the first time we are seeing pricier stores poking around for space.
Since 1998, Reuters, Conde Nast, Lehman Brothers, Ernst & Young and law firm Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom have moved into new office buildings in Times Square. At the same time, three luxury residential properties with more than 1,000 rental units went up along Eighth Avenue between West 47th and 50th streets.
The population spike has retailers such...
