Less of a store of the week and rather more of a destination of the month, Limelight Marketplace is the successful outcome of remodelling a former nightclub housed in a Gothic revival church.
Opened in May, following a fast-track conversion, this three-storey, 25,000 sq ft shopping destination in Lower Manhattan has more than 60 shops.
More than $12m (£8.1m) has been invested into creating Limelight Marketplace, which is the brainchild of US fashion retailer Jack Menashe and designer James Mansour. The result is a shopping centre-cum-church in the historic ‘Ladies Mile’ district where retailers such as Booksmart, Mariebelle Chocolates, Brocade Home and Cavero Old World Olive Oil Company provide a collection of generally niche offers.
Mansour has worked on rather more than restoring the fabric of the church, including reinstating the stained glass windows, and has developed an internal structure to allow the development to have multiple levels.
The aim has been to create a theatrical stage-set European shopping street. Whether this has become a reality is a moot point. What is beyond doubt is that this is one of the most interesting retail developments to have arrived in the Big Apple this year. It also shows there is mileage to be had from taking buildings whose original raison d’être has disappeared and giving them a new lease of life.
Developers this side of the water could do worse than give this one the once-over and consider doing something of the kind instead of the usual church-into-flats conversion.
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