Macy's CEO Confirms Plan to Transform Midtown NYC's Skyline

(Bloomberg) -- Macy’s Inc.’s top executive confirmed the company is looking to build a skyscraper on top of its flagship store in Manhattan’s Herald Square to unlock real estate value.

“We hope to walk out of 2019 with a plan that we’re then going to bid out,” Chief Executive Officer Jeff Gennette said in an interview Wednesday. Still, the retailer says there are lots of steps ahead before it can put the idea for a commercial office tower to work.

Bloomberg News reported in April that the company had floated plans for a 1.2 million-square-foot (111,500-square-meter) tower that would be used by other tenants. A representative for Macy’s had no comment at the time.

Gennette said the retailer has been working on the skyscraper plan for the last year and a half. Macy’s has met with city, government and community leaders over the past several months, a spokeswoman said.

“We’re still early in this process and there are a number of hurdles we need to cross before we can share more concrete details,” she said in an email.

--With assistance from Lily Katz.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordyn Holman in New York at jholman19@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Jonathan Roeder

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