MAC shutters Vornado-owned Times Square store

MAC Cosmetics’ Times Square departure 

The cosmetics company closed its flagship 1,700-square-foot store at 1540 Broadway, the New York Post reported. The retail portion of the building is owned by real estate investment trust Vornado Realty Trust.

MAC opened in 2010 at the space, which included makeup counters and product displays, and operated next to a prominent Disney Store. 

The store closed due to a “changing retail landscape,” a representative told the Post. The company maintains six other locations in the borough.

Vornado did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Real Deal.

The property was one of seven buildings highlighted by Steve Roth’s REIT last month, when it wrote down its real estate portfolio by $600 million. About 80 percent of the reduction came from Midtown properties. Four years ago, the properties were valued at a combined $5.6 billion, but have since dropped 30 percent.

MAC was among the many to try to sublease its stores in the midst of the pandemic. In 2021, the company put four locations on the sublease market, including three in Manhattan (the other was in Brooklyn). Its parent company said the four locations closed prior to the pandemic, spanning 10,000 square feet across the city.

The Times Square closure is a sharp pivot from a decade ago, when MAC was willing to pay big bucks to seize the Manhattan retail market. In 2012, it reportedly paid a record amount for a 1,400-square-foot lease at Vornado’s 691 Fifth Avenue. The asking rent for the space was $3,000 per square foot.

Jewelry brand Pandora in December leased space in the office portion of 1540 Broadway. The company agreed to a 27,000-square-foot lease to relocate its headquarters to the 35th floor of the building, owned by Edge Fund Advisors and HSBC.

— Holden Walter-Warner