Building Signage to Promote Fashion District

NEW YORK CITY-Concerned that the Fashion Design District is being threatened by dot-com and financial firms moving into the neighborhood, property owner and manager Leon Charney plans to erect signage on the façade of 1441 Broadway promoting the fashion community. The 37-floor, 500,000-sf building, located between 40th and 41st Streets, houses the entire lines of 17 fashion designers such as Liz Claiborne and Ellen Tracy. Charney bought the 70-year old building in 1980.

The signage is intended to give designers and the district the recognition they deserve, Charney says. “Dot-coms and financial tenants are pay $20 per sf in premiums to displace fashion designers in this neighborhood,” Charney notes, adding, “We must remember how important the fashion design world is to the fabric of New York City, culturally and economically.”