Google’s New York Retail Adventure Over Before It Began

It looks like Google’s plans to open an over 5,000-square-foot SoHo retail location have been scrapped.

A decision the firm seems to have come to late in the game, since Google has spent $6 million renovating the 131 Greene St. location that it first leased last year.

The store would have put Google in a head-to-head physical retail match-up with Apple’s incredibly successful stores, as well as the Microsoft flagship recently opened on Fifth Avenue.

As of yet, Google has made no official comment on the change of plans.

The store was designed as a retail hub for Google products, such as Chromebooks and Android phones. A smaller-scale kiosk version opened in London earlier this year, but the plans to sublease the NYC location seem to indicate that the larger physical plan is no longer a go.

“This is going to be a space for a brand at the top of their field,” said Michael Glanzberg, a principal at the real estate brokerage and advisory group Sinvin Real Estate, who is marketing 131 Greene St.’s ground-floor retail.

“It’s an extraordinary buildout. Architecturally, there really is nothing else like it in SoHo,” he added. Glanzberg did not confirm Google as his client.

Google is looking for $2.25 million annually in rent for the space — a price of about $450 per square foot. That is consistent with rates in the rest of the neighborhood, which in recent years has become an upscale shopping location featuring Dior, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton physical stores.

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