Report: Hudson Yards offices will open before retail center

It may take some time before it is back to “business as usual” for The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards.

Once the coronavirus pandemic subsides, it could take “weeks past” Hudson Yards’ commercial offices reopening before the retail center follows suit, Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau said in a CNBC video. (Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group is Hudson Yards’ real estate developer.)

While Blau would not put a timeframe on when Hudson Yards’ offices would reopen, he did say there will be “fundamental changes in the workplace.” These could include temperature-scanning machines, requiring employees to wear masks upon entering the building, lowering elevator capacity, and staggered shifts to limit the number of people walking through the lobby, he explained in the video. 

“We are looking to open retail as fast as we can, as office employees will look to get back to retail and restaurants, but it will be weeks past the office opening,” Blau said. “We will open but how busy it becomes and what the acceptability is of customers to be walking through and congregating, only time will tell.”

To hear the full interview, click here.