Dean & DeLuca to replace Spice Market at 29 Ninth Avenue

Food boutique Dean & DeLuca is set to replace Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Spice Market when the restaurant closes its doors in the Meatpacking district on Thursday.

As The Real Deal reported in May, Joseph Cayre’s Midtown Equities has been trying to reposition the 30,000 square feet of retail space for a single, experimental tenant.

The company’s director of leasing, David Beare, told TRD in May that both Spice Market and its neighbor, furniture store Vitra, would be leaving the building when their leases expire in 2017.

But the owners of Spice Market decided to vacate the building early rather than fight it out over the lease, according to the New York Post. The Spice Market will serve its last meal on Thursday.

Dean & DeLuca is now poised to open up in the space, with Cushman & Wakefield [TRDataCustom] representing the food store, the Post reported. Beare said in May the asking rents for the ground floor would be around $700 a square foot.

Dean & DeLuca, bought by a Thai company in $140 million in 2014, has four locations in New York. Its space at the Trump Organization’s 40 Wall Street is still under construction.

The Cayre-led firm took ownership of the building last year when it bought out partner Ron Burkle for $67 million. Members-only social club Soho House takes the upper floors of the building.  [NYP] — Miriam Hall