Barneys is nearing a deal to build a flashy new luxury store that will rise alongside the High Line park under construction in the Meatpacking District, sources told The Post.
After years of searching for a suitable location in the increasingly pricey West Side neighborhood, the ultra-chic retailer is finalizing plans to open a multilevel, 50,000 square-foot shop located at the northwest corner of West 13th Street and Washington Street, sources said.
The new store will rise at the south end of the future High Line park, which is being built on a long-unused strip of elevated freight-rail track overlooking the Hudson River.
The park – which will stretch 22 blocks up the West Side from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street – is slated later this year to open its southern half, stretching up to West 20th Street.
The new Barneys store will have a top level that commands a view of the park and the river, sources said.
In addition to street-level entrances, developers aim to make the store accessible from the High Line through a “connector” structure, according to one source briefed on the talks.
The new store will be built on two leased parcels that stretch under the High Line from the corner of West 13th Street and Washington Street, sources said.
Terms of the long-term lease, expected to be finalized within the next two weeks, will likely fall between 100 and $150 a square foot annually, real estate sources said.
If signed, the deal will cap a two-year search by Barneys for a home in the Meatpacking District, sources said.
Previous plots under consideration included 401 W. 14th St., now the site of an Apple Store, as well as 441 W. 14th St., which neighbors the high-priced Jeffrey boutique.
Some critics have charged that Barneys, which was purchased last year by the Dubai government for nearly $950 million, has grown too fast.
But a new store in Manhattan, in addition to its flagship on Madison Avenue, is a good move for Barneys, said Faith Hope Consolo of Prudential Douglas Elliman.
“It will do for the Meatpacking District what Bloomingdale’s did for SoHo,” Consolo added, referring to the thriving Bloomingdale’s boutique opened at 504 Broadway in 2004.