“Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials offered a glimpse Monday morning at the Apple store proposed for the train station, near the terminal’s east staircase,” Andrew Grossman reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“Apple plans to start building the gadget shop immediately, should the agency’s board give its approval Wednesday. Construction is expected to take about four months,” Grossman reports.
“Apple is paying Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant $5 million to vacate its space on the terminal’s east balcony more than eight years before its lease expires,” Grossman reports. “The MTA will get significantly higher annual rent: $1.1 million from Apple vs. $263,997 from Metrazur.”
Grossman reports, “In addition to the space currently occupied by Metrazur, Apple will move into an adjacent, currently vacant balcony on the northeast side of the terminal.”
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Gary Allen reports for ifoAppleStore, “The MTA has issued guidelines for retailers within the Terminal, including sustainable design requirements, no exposed fluorescent lighting or artificial brick, and no obstructions of the existing glass by other materials. The requirements also prohibit, ‘materials that, in the Landlord’s opinion, are of low quality, non-durable, and/or difficult to maintain.'”
“The limitations also apply to interior signage, which cannot be iridescent, flashing, animated, formed plastic or neon. ‘All luminous signs are prohibited,’ the guidelines state. It’s not clear how this would apply to Apple’s white, back-lit logo,” Allen reports. “The architectural guidelines allow balcony restaurants to install raised flooring for plumbing and electrical service. It’s not clear what type of floor that Apple has proposed for its space. Walls and ceilings are completely protected and cannot be changed, nor can anything be attached to them.”
Allen reports, “Lighting is also regulated tightly, with the color temperature required to be 3000°K, to match the warm yellow interior lighting of the terminal. Apple’s renderings of the store have a decidedly yellow tint, perhaps acknowledging the MTA’s requirement.”
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Related article:
Apple inks 10-year deal for world’s largest Apple Retail Store in Grand Central Terminal – July 23, 2011