ByCoStar News. View original article here.
Commercial properties across the United States, including the two largest malls and the iconic Empire State Building in New York City, are marking the Lunar New Year with events to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Dragon.
In Northern New Jersey, American Dream, one of the largest malls in the U.S., plans to host its Lunar New Year Spectacular on Feb. 24 at the end of the 15-day celebration that started Feb. 10. In Bloomington, Minnesota, Mall of America, the nation’s largest mall with 4,343,136 square feet of space, according to CoStar data, hosted a two-day Lunar New Year Celebration last week.
In California, Santa Monica Place, a mall owned by Macerich, plans to have a Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday. The celebrations are expected to feature lion dancer performances, a Chinese dough artist and craft kits for kids.
Empire State Building on Feb 8. (Empire State Realty Trust)
Empire State Realty Trust, owner of the Empire State Building, which is 1,454 feet high, lit the top floors of the iconic office tower in red to celebrate Lunar New Year. Huang Ping, consul general of China in New York, was on hand to help flip the switch. In China and other East Asian countries, the color red symbolizes joy and good fortune.
Atlantic Station in Atlanta held several Lunar New Year festivities. (Atlantic Station)
Lunar New Year marks the start of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is often described as the most important holiday in some East Asian countries. In South Korea, the Lunar New Year is known as Seollal, and in Vietnam, it’s called Tết. The days-long celebration is marked by family members traveling to be with each other and starting the reunion with a big dinner. In Taiwan, typical Lunar New Year’s meals can include a large hot pot, steamed fish for surplus and luck, sticky rice cakes for prosperity and dumplings shaped like ancient currency to represent wealth.
Large U.S. commercial property owners, including Blackstone and Hines, also got into the act at their retail centers. The companies hosted parties with traditional dancing, artistic performances, lanterns and food.
At the Shops at SkyView in Flushing, New York, Blackstone’s ShopCore threw a party with cultural performances, an immersive photobooth, wishing tree decorating and raffles.
In Atlanta, Hines’ Atlantic Station mixed-use development last week held its annual Lunar New Year Festival with a spellbinding Lion Dance, a Kung Fu-Tai Chi performance, and a numerologist who made predictions on the future based on a shopper’s date of birth.
Visitors to New York will be able to see some of the Empire State Building’s Lunar New Year decorations for a while longer. The building’s Fifth Avenue Lobby windows feature a festive installation with artistic imagery and representations of this year’s star, the dragon. “The animal will be depicted in an array of colors and art styles among diverse landscapes in a series of three scenes,” the building owner said.
“We expect them to be up through March,” Empire State Realty spokesman Brock Talbot said in an email.
And in the Los Angeles area, the Year of the Dragon celebration at Santa Monica Place continues through Wednesday.