The former Lord & Taylor department store windows will be lit up for the first time since it closed in 2019, but shoppers and strollers will see food rather than fashion.
The hospitality company, unknown in New York, is launching its massive 35,000-square-foot edible emporium this year at Amazon-owned 425 Fifth Avenue, which has recently knocked down the tide of food hall closures that claimed urban space at Union Square.
Named after legendary Lord & Taylor President Dorothy Shaver, Shaver Hall is one of Manhattan’s most visible but long downstairs blockfronts, located on the west side of Avenue between West 38th and 39th Avenue.
This culinary complex, which is the first time this rendering is showing here, bringing public life to the groundbreaking building for the first time in six years.
There are two full-scale restaurants, one of which is a “destination” spot named Talow Steakhouse. The entire location will be run by Food Hall, a Dallas-based outfit behind the large Entertainment and Food Hall in Nashville and Plano, Texas.
Amazon, which bought the building for $1 billion in 2020, will become the landlord of Shaver Hall.
Food Hall Co. says it is dedicated to “creating disruptive entertainment and dining concepts at the heartbeat of the local community.” It is the brand of FB Society and the owner of a privately held hospitality concept that it incubates and nurtures.
While the Fifth Avenue project has not been revealed yet, the official shares with Real Estate Check that the 11 “curated” food rolls include an “unique concept featuring a variety of cheese and swaying belt pairings” with the Omakase restaurant by Michelin-starred Chef BK Park.
Previously announced vendors include Concepts of the Mediterranean, F&F Pizzeria from Brooklyn, and Pastor Taqueria Al.
Why do you think Food Hall can succeed while many others are closing or shrinking?
The person in charge has designed the spaces, including “shaverholes are intentionally different. A curated culinary journey combined with immersive programming rather than a collection of leases,” live entertainment, “layered experiences,” and “architectural storytelling from top tier partners like ZGF architecture.”
Dorothy Shaver was a fashion entrepreneur who ran Lord & Taylor from 1945 until his death in 1959. Life Magazine praised her as “a woman in an American career.”
