NEW YORK CITY-As Grand Central Terminal approaches its 2013 Centennial, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be celebrating the station’s 100^th birthday by creating and marketing two major retail spaces inside the station, GlobeSt.com has confirmed. For the first time available for lease, the MTA is making available a 12,300-square-foot space on the west side of Vanderbilt Hall –the station’s former main waiting room – for a sit-down restaurant and takeout area, as well as a 4,700-square-foot underdeveloped area above Grand Central Market.

The new restaurants, which are slated for a 2013 opening, will coincide with the terminal’s centennial year, which kicks off in February. According to a source, a request for proposals will be issued later this month.

In a statement, Nancy Marshall, the MTA’s director of Grand Central Terminal Development, says that the station’s built-in foot traffic makes the locations “spectacular” for food service businesses. The terminal is the second most-visited place in New York City after Times Square, with 750,000 visitors a day. “Vanderbilt Hall is visually stunning, and a restaurant above the vibrant Grand Central Market promises to have tremendous cachet,” she says.