Soho is too expensive for even the MoMA. Crain’s reports that the rent for the Museum of Modern Art Design Store’s 14,500-square-foot space at Spring and Crosby Streets is going up to $2.5 million a year after its current lease expires in 2016.
The museum’s store, which was built in 2001, has seen its rent triple since that time. It is currently negotiating the rates, but according to the property’s leasing agent, Marvin Rosenberg, senior managing director at Colliers International,the museum might not be able to stay:
“[MoMA] was there when the rents were more reasonable,” said Mr. Rosenberg, who declined to disclose the identity of the landlord. CoStar lists the owner as 81 Spring Realty LLC. “[The landlord] would be happy to have MoMA stay and he would try to accommodate them, but we’re not sure they can afford market value.”
As of May 2014, according to a report by the Real Estate Board of New York, the average asking rent for a Soho retailer was $890 per square foot, almost twice the asking rent of the store’s ground floor space.
(Photo: Kramchang)
