Brookfield Place, in Lower Manhattan, New York City
NEW YORK CITY—The experiential retail trend aimed at attracting people continues to kick into high gear. With the buzz of the 100 shops and restaurants opening at Hudson Yards which will include the 170,000-square-foot cultural event space, the Shed, and pilates and yoga at the Oculus, Brookfield Place is investing even more in positioning itself as a mixed-use destination for people to congregate.
Even with Brookfield's tony shops including Gucci, Hermès and Louis Vuitton, retailers are working to shed the stuffy image of your mother's shopping center where salespeople cultivated an atmosphere of exclusivity. Brookfield promotes its tenants' happy hours, Saturday morning entertainment and even has an ice skating rink.
Now to further cater to its corporate tenants, Brookfield has hired Convene to build and operate a 73,000-square-foot, multi-use space at Brookfield Place. Managed by Convene, the corporate and cultural events hub will comprise two large spaces, each having the capacity to seat up to 500 people. It will also have other rooms for smaller meetings and events, and a retail cafe. Construction began this week. The space is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of this year. Brookfield declined to provide construction or operating costs projected for the development.
“Brookfield Place is a destination of choice for commercial tenants and visitors thanks to its high-end design, grand public spaces, unparalleled amenities and year-round arts programming,” says Ben Brown, EVP, Brookfield Property Group. “We recognized that sophisticated event and flex meeting space was a component that would enhance the Brookfield Place experience for office tenants and visitors alike.”
“Brookfield Properties has been an incredible partner to Convene for many years,” says Ryan Simonetti, CEO and co-founder of Convene. The project is one of the largest spaces of Convene's portfolio.
“Brookfield's track-record in placemaking and creating integrated office and retail destinations goes hand-in-hand with Convene's unmatched event and hospitality-focused experience,” he adds.
In addition to its meeting and event services, Convene will offer its in-building catering program. It will work with Arts Brookfield on programming for the space. This is Convene's sixth location within the real estate company's portfolio and 30th location nationally.
Last July, Convene announced it secured $152 million in a Series D funding round to support its expansion and new services. Real estate companies including Brookfield backed Convene in the funding. Convene reports that its total equity funding to date is $260 million.
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Betsy Kim
Betsy Kim was the bureau chief, East Coast, and New York City reporter for Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. As a lawyer and journalist, Betsy has worked as the director of editorial and content for LexisNexis Lawyers.com, a TV/multi-media journalist for NBC and CBS affiliated TV stations in the Midwest, and an associate producer at Court TV.
