Saks Fifth Avenue owner developing luxury hotel, apartments in former department stores

Saks Fifth Avenue is contemplating extending its brand to hotels and luxury apartments as it looks beyond a bleak retail landscape for growth, The Post has learned. On the heels of the blockbuster announcement that Saks’ parent HBC inked a $2.65 billion deal to acquire rival Neiman Marcus, HBC is developing a hotel and 56 private residences in Beverly Hills and posh townhomes in Westfield, N.J. in the parking lot of a long-shuttered Lord & Taylor department store. As retail sales sputter this year on top of a long decline...