Electronic commerce giant Amazon has agreed to a 17-year lease to rent a 470,000 sq-foot space in the heart of New York’s major shopping district.
With The Wall Street Journal reporting last month the company was planning to open its first ever bricks-and-mortar outlet in the area, it was initially assumed the West 34th Street, Manhattan, space would be the location for the new store.
But according to a statement released to GeekWire, the company has “leased this building primarily as corporate office space and we intend to sublease to other tenants the ground-floor retail space”.
The location has been rented to Amazon by Vornado Reality Trust and the commercial real-estate firm confirmed the news in a statement. As described in the property’s brochure, staff can look forward to a building that boasts “expansive floorplates with generous ceiling heights and natural light allowing for both efficient and dramatic design for office tenants in New York City”.
Amazon has yet to officially announce any plans to open a physical store, despite The Wall Street Journal claiming there is a planned outlet in the pipeline that will allow customers to collect their online purchases, as well as exchange or return them if necessary.
It has also emerged today that Amazon is preparing enter the travel market with the launch of a new website that allows users to book hotel rooms. The new site, Amazon Travel, will utilise the company’s familiar brand to create a marketplace for independent and boutique hotels in the US that struggle to compete with big hotel chains and internet travel agencies.
Amazon image via Shutterstock
