Aéropostale To Leave Times Square Flagship After Bankruptcy

Clothing retailer Aéropostale will close its Times Square flagship store after filing for bankruptcy this week, giving back around 19,000 square feet of prime Broadway retail space to landlord SL Green Realty. The store at the base of 1515 Broadway, a 54-story office tower between West 44th and West 45th streets, is one of 154 locations in the U.S. and Canada that Aéropostale will shutter after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday. It is not yet clear when the retailer will vacate the Times Square space and whether it will pay SL Green a penalty or termination fee to do so, according to Crain’s. But Aéropostale’s departure will give the real estate investment trust a sizable vacancy in the high-traffic Times Square shopping corridor, where retail rents have escalated as high as $2,000 per square foot for prime space. Read more at The Real Deal.