Wall St. As Shopping Mecca?

A developer wants to transform a bank into a shopper's delight. Could this be the development that transforms the area into a 24/7 urban CBD?

1 minute read

February 10, 2006, 1:00 PM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Could a lease by one of the world's high-fashion retailers provide the long-awaited key to unlocking Wall Street's perennial retail freeze, and beyond that, to thawing out the district's commercial cold spell?

Years before the attacks of 9/11 destroyed the popular retail concourse at the World Trade Center, boosters of downtown Manhattan had pushed hard, but with little success, to bring better, bigger and more exciting stores to the Financial District. The scarcity of restaurants and high-quality shopping outlets hurt both office and residential growth. As financial services firms migrated to Midtown Manhattan and to the World Financial Center, with its self-contained restaurants and shopping, the 9-to-5 quality of street life has been exacerbated by the absence of residents in the historic Wall Street core. The non-shopping environment has been a major obstacle to transforming the area into a 24/7 urban CBD."

Thanks to Peter Slatin

Thursday, February 9, 2006 in The Slatin Report

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

2 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

4 hours ago - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

6 hours ago - InTransition Magazine