Landlord Charles S. Cohen signed a lease on the corner of Park Avenue and 57th Street with the high-end shoe shop Harrys of London, which he bought a controlling interest in just a few weeks ago.
Cohen signed the British fashion retailer to 1,100 square feet at the retail component of the Ritz Tower prewar apartment building at 465 Park Avenue, the New York Post reported.
“It’s a brand I’ve long supported and admired,” Cohen told the newspaper. “Its expansion into Manhattan, as far as I’m concerned, has been long overdue.”
The asking rent for the space was $800 per square foot.
Cohen just a few weeks ago bought a controlling interest in Harrys from a Boston private equity firm, and it’s the second time in recent history the fashion-loving real estate mogul leased space to a company he controls.
Earlier this year Cohen signed the London-based men’s clothier Richard James – a fashion brand he bought a majority interest in this February – to 2,000 square feet at 465 Park Avenue.
The corner retail has been vacant since 2011, when Borders Books shuttered its store. Cohen plans to convert 35,000 square feet of the retail space on the building’s 57th Street side to medical use. [NYP] – Rich Bockmann