Downtown ghost town? The Smithfield-Oliver corridor struggles
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The announced closing of Saks is the latest blow to the Smithfield Street area Downtown. -
Shown here in 1955, the W.T. Grant Co. became the site of Saks Fifth Avenue in 1977. -
The Henry W. Oliver Building has suffered since the law firm K&L Gates moved out.
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For decades, John Petrolias' restaurant teemed with customers who came from Downtown department stores or nearby office towers around Smithfield Street to grab a bite to eat.
But these days, business is so slow that the Smithfield Cafe closes at 3 p.m. on Saturdays. And last week, the restaurant, faced with declining traffic and the loss of an upper floor tenant, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
While the restaurant plans to reorganize and stay open, Mr. Petrolias acknowledged times have been tough in a section of Downtown that historically has bustled with activity.
"Business is pretty bad," he said. "Right now, nobody comes Downtown to shop."
Mr. Petrolias isn't the only one facing hard times.
Traditionally one of Downtown's strongest commercial sector, the Smithfield-Oliver Avenue corridor itself is a bit down on its luck.
PG INTERACTIVEThe latest blow came earlier this month when upscale retailer Saks Fifth Avenue announced it would be closing its doors by next September when its lease expires, potentially leaving a vacant four-story building in its wake.
Across the street from Saks, the former Lord & Taylor department store building has been vacant for the past seven years. Two blocks away, the nine-story James H. Reed office building remains empty, two years after the Reed Smith law firm moved to Three PNC Plaza on Fifth Avenue.
Adding to the woes, the Henry W. Oliver building on Smithfield next to Saks is 70 percent vacant, having yet to recover from the loss of the K&L Gates law firm. The Jos. A. Bank clothing store, which occupied a street-level corner spot in the building, has moved to Fifth, and its slot is now empty.
A stone's throw away, the former Alcoa Building, now known as the Regional Enterprise Tower, was sold at a sheriff's sale for $1,706 in May and has a 22 percent vacancy rate as tenants flee left and right.
On Grant Street, a block from Saks, the ornate Union Trust Building has lost most of its street level retail tenants and is facing foreclosure for the second time in less than three years. It is 55 percent vacant.
And all of that doesn't even count the Macy's department store, which is in the process of scaling back its retail space from nine floors to six as the Cincinnati-based retail chain markets the building for sale.
First Published October 16, 2011 12:00 am
