Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
- The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Amazon is in talks to lease the former Lord & Taylor flagship store as it continues its quest for office space in New York City. Amazon abandoned plans to build a controversial HQ2 campus in Queens in February.
- The building is currently owned by WeWork, which bought the building from Lord & Taylor for $850 billion. The location had been home to Lord & Taylor for more than a century.
- We visited the iconic store earlier this year before it officially closed its doors. This is what it looked like in its final days.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
As Amazon scrambles for office space after abandoning its contentious campus in Queens, the tech and retail behemoth is eyeing the former Lord & Taylor flagship building, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Lord & Taylor closed its iconic flagship location for good earlier in 2019 after more than a century of business, following several quarters of slumping sales and declining foot traffic. WeWork currently owns the space and resides in the building, after buying it for $850 million in October 2017.
Sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal that Amazon is in talks with WeWork to lease out the entirety of the building’s 12 stories, or at least a portion of the space. However, specific details of the scope of the prospective deal remain unknown.
An Amazon spokesperson did not return Business Insider’s request for comment.
The news comes after Amazon revoked its initial plan in February to build a sprawling campus for employees in Long Island City, Queens, with the promise of infusing the community with 25,000 jobs over the next decade.
Read more: Amazon cancels New York HQ2
The surprising turn of events came in response to widespread outcry and protests from New York City residents and progressive lawmakers over the potential impact of Amazon’s HQ2 on neighboring communities, as well as concern over the roughly $3 billion in government incentives originally allotted as part of the effort.
Business Insider visited the store several times before the department store closed its doors for good at the beginning of this year. Here’s what it looked like then.
Jessica Tyler contributed reporting to an earlier version of this story.
The Lord & Taylor flagship building is located on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, a major shopping destination in the city.
Mark Matousek/Business Insider
Amazon currently has more than 5,000 employees across multiple buildings in New York City. The Wall Street Journal reported that if the company takes over the Lord & Taylor building, it "it isn’t clear whether Amazon would relocate its existing New York City workforce or hire thousands of new employees."
Mark Matousek/Business Insider
Amazon has reportedly been considering several potential office locations in New York, including the Farley Post Office building near Penn Station.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
The demise of the flagship came after parent company Hudson’s Bay decided to scale back operations and focus on its other, better-performing businesses like Saks Fifth Avenue.
Business Insider/Jessica Tyler
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Bethany Biron)