Madison Avenue Between 87th & 88th Gets a Facelift -
UPPER EAST SIDE — Park Avenue doctors are not the only ones keeping the Upper East Side looking youthful. An architecture firm has given a facelift to 7,000 square feet of retail space in a 1931 stately brick 13-story co-op at 1200 Madison Ave., replacing a shoe repair, butcher, hardware store and others with hot new high-end boutiques. The Spector Group created modern glass storefronts along almost the entire block East 87th and 88th streets, ushering in a new strip of luxury shopping on Madison Avenue that's been creeping up north of East 86th Street. "We just cleaned the whole thing up. There's a lot more natural light. It has a nice sleek, clean design from top to bottom," said Scott Spector, a principal at Spector Group. " It enhances that part of the neighborhood, just with the light itself. Visually, you can see into the store. Before it was very closed off and dark."
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