Hudson Square emerges as NYC's hidden dining corridor

Hudson Square, a trapezoid of blocks north of Canal Street, has quietly become a culinary hub as century-old buildings welcome a wave of high-profile restaurants. Since Google and Disney leased more than four million square feet of office space in and around the district last year and into 2025, 16 tenants have relocated to Hudson Square, drawn by new ground-floor retail and proximity to a growing roster of creative and media tenants.

Among the most anticipated arrivals are Daniel Humm’s as-yet-undescribed 5,000-square-foot restaurant at 435 Hudson St.; Cesar Ramirez’s Cesar at 333 Hudson St., which recently earned its second Michelin star; Flynn McGarry’s Cove, opened in October at 285 W. Houston St.; Jake Leiber of Chez Ma Tante signing a 4,437-square-foot ground-floor lease at 555 Greenwich St.; Simo Pizza’s Neapolitan-style pies at 350 Hudson St.; Sushidokoro Mekumi at 70 Charlton St.; and Lina Goujjane’s Kiko at 307 Spring St. All are in buildings owned by Hudson Square Properties, a joint venture of Trinity Church, Norges Bank and managing partner Hines, which controls 13 district buildings tied to a history of early-20th-century printing.

The restaurants reflect a concerted effort by Hudson Square Properties to make the area enticing to residents and to office workers in the creative, tech and media fields. “Hudson Square is becoming one of the city’s most interesting new dining corridors,” Jason Alderman, senior managing director at Hines, said. Over the past several years, the joint venture has worked intentionally to transform the neighborhood’s ground-floor retail to provide the best mix of uses to our office tenants and local residents. The district’s energy is strongest around standout operators and the dense mix of new openings.

Hudson Square isn’t a traditional dining mecca like Tribeca, Flatiron or Williamsburg, but the district has quietly reoriented itself around food and drink. Hudson Square Properties owns about half of the district’s roughly 12 million square feet of office space, and in the past two years its portfolio logged about 64,000 square feet of retail leasing. In the last year alone, the district reported roughly 915,000 square feet of new leases and renewals, according to data from the Hudson Square Business Improvement District. The latest numbers show a vacancy rate of about 16.5%, down from 17.9% a year earlier.

Retail stores remain modest in number, but the area has become a magnet for experiential dining and fitness amenities. Equinox and Studio Pilates anchor the ground-floor lineup, while Port Said at 350 Hudson St. has built a nightly following with its Mideastern and Mediterranean offerings. Its Instagram promise—“Dinner here is never just dinner”—captures the district’s late-night energy and party-pace that many operators cite as a key draw for both residents and office workers.

The transformation traces back to Hudson Square’s roots as a center for the city’s early-20th-century printing industry, but the current push shows a deliberate tilt toward livability and prestige. The district’s office footprint remains large—about 12 million square feet—with HSP owning roughly half of that while actively curating a vibrant ground-floor ecosystem. As more new leases take shape and marquee chefs open doors, Hudson Square is increasingly seen as an urban proving ground for what landlords and operators describe as a “best-mix” approach to retail in a post-pandemic, design-forward neighborhood.

The changes align with a broader trend of developers reshaping lower-Manhattan’s periphery to serve both the resident and the commuter. The influx of top-rated concepts is expected to continue, with additional openings and expansions on the horizon as landlords seek to maximize street-level foot traffic and create a complete live-work-play environment in Hudson Square.