How Manhattan’s Union Square Is Evolving

The retail numbers are looking pretty good for Manhattan’s Union Square.

Spending in the area has maintained a steady pace over the past 12 months, on par with the preceding year despite inflation and weak consumer confidence. But businesses — particularly in the food and beverage sector — continue to flock to the neighborhood. That’s according to data provided exclusively to WWD by the Union Square Partnership, which this week issues its 2026 Commercial Market Report and its second-quarter 2026 Biz + Broker Report.

“It’s a busy time for Union Square. From what the data says and from what we see on the ground every day, the district is alive and booming,” said Julie Stein, executive director of the Union Square Partnership, which runs the Union Square Business Improvement District, and covers an area from 12th to 20th streets and First to Sixth avenues.

Union Square welcomed 53 new storefront retailers in the last 12 months, including 38 food and beverage establishments. That compared with 43 openings in the preceding 12 months. Not to be left out of the surge were fashion and beauty retailers like The North Face, Reformation, PacSun, Ulta, Aritzia and Uniqlo, all of which opened within the past year.

Among the recent food and beverage entries were La Tazza D’Oro for fine Italian pastries and coffee; Seahorse, a stylish seafood brasserie with a raw bar and mermaid mural; the Bar Ambra and Beltane lounges; Narkara for Thai cuisine; the Angelina Italian bakery; Nespresso coffee and espresso, and the Time Out Market food hall.

Union Square’s storefronts are currently 90.1 percent occupied, compared with 88.5 percent a year ago, and 83.4 percent two years ago. There has been 59,000 square feet of ground floor retail space leased over the past 12 months, compared with 40,000 square feet in the preceding 12 months. Broadway from 17th to 18th streets is 100 percent leased and has been a vehicle-free, pedestrian plaza since 2010. Two years ago it was updated under the city’s Broadway Vision plan.

Union Square generated an average $1.85 million in daily consumer spending in the last 12 months, with an average of $82 per customer per day, according to Datafy, a visitor analytics platform. That compares to $1.88 million in daily consumer spending for the preceding 12 months, and an average daily consumer spend of $82.04.

Spending in Union Square is “well distributed” across the area’s top categories. Dining and nightlife accounted for 23 percent; grocery and department stores accounted for 20 percent, and clothing and accessories made up 19 percent, reflecting the district’s diverse business mix.

“We are seeing a continued renaissance in the food and beverage space,” Stein said. “Restaurants have long been a part of the Union Square identity for the last 50 years since the Greenmarket has been anchoring the square. This month is the 50th anniversary of the Greenmarket — it’s core to Union Square’s identity.

“One of the other interesting trends we’re seeing in Union Square and in other neighborhoods is around experiential retail,” said Stein, citing Activate Games, a high-tech, interactive indoor gaming facility that recently opened, and the soon-to-open Bubble House, a K-pop experience. “You’re seeing people crave those unique in-person experiences.”

Stein also singled out new construction, citing six ground-up buildings, five under construction, one just completed, by Fifth and Sixth avenues. “You’re seeing a huge overhaul in the look and feel of that section of our district in particular because of the new private investment,” Stein said.

The Union Square Partnership is composed of two 501(c)3 organizations — a local development corporation (LDC) and a business improvement district (BID) operating through a management agreement. The BID provides its core services — a clean team, public safety officers, and landscaping — within the formal boundaries of the BID, which are 14th Street between First and Sixth avenues, and all the properties that front on Union Square Park.

Like other Manhattan neighborhoods such as the Upper East Side, Meatpacking, SoHo, Fifth Avenue and Flatiron, Union Square is a beneficiary of the city’s post-pandemic recovery in foot traffic, the return to office, and the retailers and brands looking to snatch up available real estate.

Business in and around Union Square also benefits from the neighborhood’s eclectic, energetic character, its range of restaurants and stores and its year-round crowds of students, office workers, residents, tourists and protesters. Major retail draws are Whole Foods, Paragon, Barnes & Noble, the Strand Bookstore, Best Buy, Target and Uniqlo, which opened this year. There’s also an array of big-box discounters including Burlington, Nordstrom Rack and DSW.

The area is anchored by Union Square Park, with its dog run, Greenmarket, Holiday Market, and Harvest culinary benefit which this year is scheduled for Nov. 10. Count New York University, Mount Sinai-Union Square Hospital, Zeckendorf Towers and other residential high rises as anchors as well. Top restaurants include the Union Square Cafe, Boucherie Union Square, ABC Kitchen, ABC Cocina, and Tarallucci e Vino.

In the first quarter, 14th Street reached 94 percent storefront occupancy between First and Sixth avenues thanks to some new mixed-use projects in development.

The corridor has also benefited by the 14th Street busway introduced six years ago. According to the Partnership, ridership has picked up, trip times are shorter, and there’s no sense that businesses have been negatively impacted despite some early concerns. The M14-SBS bus recorded over 5.1 million riders in the last 12 months with total daily riders on the corridor reaching 14,000. Additionally, the Sixth Avenue subway station on 14th Street was renovated for full accessibility and improved linkups to the F, L, and IRT subway lines.

The 14th Street corridor could see further enhancements in a few years, specifically more greenery, greater outdoor seating for restaurants or just hanging out, safer pedestrian crossings and programming, via a public-private partnership called the 14th Street Plan involving the Partnership, the Department of Transportation, the Meatpacking District and the Parks Department. In its early design stages, the plan intends to improve the streetscape around Union Square along 14th Street and create more of a cohesive look and feel to the corridor, Stein said. The plan is in the early phase of a two-year design process.

“The idea is to make 14th Street a pedestrian street of choice,” said Stein, although many people tend to avoid eastern sections that have dealt with crime, homelessness and illegal street vending.

“We’re also looking at modernizing Union Square Park as part of it,” Stein said. “It’s like what if Union Square became like New York City’s best Italian piazza, and what if 14th Street were its best Parisian boulevard? These are things that are achievable by us.”