ICSC will move its New York National Conference in 2014 to the expanded Jacob Javits Convention Center, on the far West Side of Manhattan, putting the meeting at the epicenter of the largest makeover project in New York City in decades. The New York Conference, ICSC’s second-largest annual event after RECon, will be housed in a facility that has just undergone a $463 million expansion and renovation. Under construction nearby is the $6 billion first phase of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project.
“This is an extremely important show, and it will now be in a place that can accommodate its future growth,” said Michael P. Kercheval, ICSC’s president and CEO. Each year the show continues to attract more retailers, investors, developers and others associated with the industry, Kercheval notes. “It is befitting that this conference, which is all about progress and development, will now be at the center of perhaps the most exciting urban renewal project currently under way anywhere.”
At the center of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project is The Related Cos.’ Hudson Yards, which will consist of 16 skyscrapers accommodating nearly 13 million square feet of office, housing and retail space, plus a school and 14 acres of open space. The whole project is being built on a platform covering the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rail yards, through a joint venture between Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group.
“It looks absolutely stunning,” said Timothy McGuinness, ICSC’s staff vice president of global trade expositions, referring to the refurbished and expanded Javits Center. The New York National Conference will occupy a 100,000-square-feet of exhibition space on the lower level, with an additional 50,000 square feet or so of meeting space. Looking to future years, “we could easily grow the show and meet all the requests of our members to expand the size of their booths.” Javits has a total of about 900,000 square feet of space. Access to the convention center from hotels in midtown Manhattan and Times Square is made easy by the recent extension of the No. 7 subway line that goes directly to Javits, McGuinness notes.
ICSC will shortly be releasing details of an Oct. 16 open house at which New York National Conference exhibitors will be invited to walk through Javits and attend a presentation about the Hudson Yards Project.
Link to original article on icsc.org
Publish Date: September 05, 2013
