The windows of the former Lord & Taylor department store will soon be lit up for the first time since it closed in 2019 — but shoppers and strollers will see not fashion, but food.
A hospitality company little-known in New York is launching a giant, 35,000 square-foot edibles emporium at Amazon-owned 425 Fifth Ave. this year, bucking the tide of recent food hall closures that most recently claimed UrbanSpace at Union Square.
Shaver Hall, named for legendary Lord & Taylor president Dorothy Shaver, will hold forth on one of Manhattan’s most visible, but long-dark, ground-floor blockfronts, on the avenue’s west side between West 38th and 39th streets.
The culinary complex, renderings of which are shown here for the first time, will bring public life to the landmarked building for the first time in six years.
It will have two full-scale restaurants, one of them a “destination” spot named Tallow Steakhouse. The whole place will be run by The Food Hall Co., a Dallas-based outfit behind large entertainment-and-food halls in Nashville and Plano, Texas.
Amazon, which purchase the building for $1 billion in 2020, will be Shaver Hall’s landlord.
Food Hall Co. says it’s dedicated to “creating disruptive entertainment and dining concepts at the heartbeat of their local communities.” It’s a brand of FB Society, a privately held owner of hospitality concepts that it incubates and nurtures.
Much about the Fifth Avenue project is yet to be revealed, but its reps shared with Realty Check that its 11 “curated” food stalls will include an omakase restaurant by Michelin-starred chef BK Park and “a unique concept featuring a variety of cheeses and pairings on a revolving belt.”
Previously announced as vendors are Mediterranean concept Zazu, Brooklyn’s F&F Pizzeria and Taqueria Al Pastor.
Why does the Food Hall Co. think it can succeed while so many others are closing or shrinking?
A rep said, “Shaver Hall is intentionally different. It’s not a collection of leases, but a curated culinary journey paired with immersive programming” to include live entertainment, “layered experiences” and “architectural storytelling from top-tier partners like ZGF Architecture,” which is designing the space.
Dorothy Shaver was a fashion entrepreneur who ran Lord & Taylor from 1945 until her death in 1959. Life magazine honored her as “the No. 1 American career woman.”
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