October 11, 2007
Apple Gets Edgy in Williamsburg
Last month rumors of an Apple Store in Brooklyn started to spread, and now there's some news on where the store may land.
Originally it was suspected that Brooklyn residents would be sinking their teeth into Apple on Atlantic Avenue near Clinton. Then someone claiming to be "Dana Hemphill, the Apple Northeastern Representative" said the company was "currently in negotiation to open our 1st retail location in Brooklyn, NY on Atlantic Avenue, not far from Court Street," mentioning it "should up and running by the second quarter of 2008."
Today The Post reports that Apple (and Barneys Co-op, for that matter) has been in discussions with residential property The Edge in Williamsburg. The property will have 75,000 feet of retail space and is located along Kent Avenue spanning North 5th Street to North 7th Street. Is a Genius Bar in store for the 'Burg? Only time will tell.
For Manhattanite Mac users, there may be another shop coming your way as well, MacNN reports: "Apple may be re-investigating a corner retail location ranging between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet across from the Empire State Building. Development plans will cost up to $125 million, and city permits have already been issued to a firm which will set up scaffolding around the address as well as the adjacent addresses. Financial records reveal that Apple would be the sole tenant of a 27,900 square foot building with a lease lasting through January of 2022."
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Is it not reasonable to consider that discussions for various locations may be just posturing to get a better deal elsewhere? Seems to be the nature of the commercial RE business.
Guess we won't know with any certainty until something is actually signed, despite understandable hopes and neighborhood pride and perhaps wishful thinking present in many of the comments on the other thread.
Even if they are truly considering a space at Edge, we have no sense of how much of that total 75,000sf available space actually might be of interest to Apple. May just be a 5,000-10,000sf boutique we're talking about here, who actually knows...
Mentioning that Edge has 75,000sf available is hardly an indication of the substance of any actual discussions that might be taking place.
Opening in Williamsburg will be a lose, lose proposition.
Is Apple becoming the next Starbucks, CVS, and Chase Bank? How many iPods can a nation buy?
Do they still make computers?
Kent Avenue?! I can't believe that. They might as well open in Red Hook.
I heard they were planning one at 9th Avenue and 14th Street a few months ago.
two blocks of high end retail space along kent ave?? even if you told me that two years ago, i would of thought that you were crazy.
Putting a huge retailer like Apple in a one-subway neighborhood doesn't make a whole lot of business sense. For most Brooklynites, the Manhattan stores are more convenient to access than one in Billyburg. I hope this isn't for real.
Another Gap or Duane Reade.
APPLEBUCKS on every corner.
Now I know where the Genuis Bar attendants get promoted from.
The 9th Ave. and 14th Street rumor is true. I work on the block and know the owners of several adjacent buildings.
When will they get a decent gym or there in that NYC surburbia?
"Putting a huge retailer like Apple in a one-subway neighborhood doesn't make a whole lot of business sense. For most Brooklynites, the Manhattan stores are more convenient to access than one in Billyburg. I hope this isn't for real."
i agree. this is stupid.
This is some building owner or manager trying to create buzz for his property; nothing to do with Apple.