EAST VILLAGE — After nearly 20 years on East 14th Street, the massive P.C. Richard & Son electronics store near Union Square will be shuttered to make way for a tech hub, city officials announced.
The Economic Development Corporation issued a Request for Proposals to redevelop the city-owned property at 124 E. 14th St. into new commercial property for rapidly growing industries like technology and creative businesses, according to a press release and Crain’s New York, which first wrote about the RFP.
“The current site of the PC Richard store will serve as a new tech hub in Union Square, capitalizing on the academic and transit advantages offered by the neighborhood and its proximity to the Flatiron District,” EDC officials said in a statement, adding that the demand for commercial space could top "up to 60 million square feet over the next ten years."
“The opportunity to completely redevelop a 15,000 square foot lot, with the capacity for more than 80,000 buildable square feet, is just one example of EDC finding creative uses for the assets we have in a city where space is harder and harder to come by,” EDC president President Maria Torres-Springer said in a statement.
The EDC will hold an optional informational session on Dec. 18 and site visit on Jan. 8.
Bids are due on Feb. 26, according to city records.
It is unclear when P.C. Richard & Son, which has three other locations in Manhattan as well as outposts in the outer boroughs, will close. The company did not immediately return a request for comment.
