Macy's CEO Confirms Plan To Build Tower On Midtown Store: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Macy's executives confirmed that the retail giant is planning to develop a skyscraper above its Midtown Manhattan flagship store, according to new reports.

Macy's Chief Executive Officer Jeff Gennette told Bloomberg that the company has been planning the redevelopment of its 34th Street flagship for the past year and a half, and has already begun working with city officials.

"We hope to walk out of 2019 with a plan that we’re then going to bid out," Gennette told Bloomberg.

Plans are far from complete, but initial reports indicated that Macy's could pursue building a tower as tall as 800 feet that would be rented out to other tenants. The tower would not replace the existing department store, but instead rise above it.

Macy's won't the first Midtown retailer to leverage its prime real estate to make up for a decline in brick-and-mortar shopping. Barney's is considering downsizing its footprint in its Madison Avenue and East 61st Street and Lord & Taylor closed its flagship store in 2018 after selling the building to WeWork for $850 million.