The 1995 film “The Usual Suspects” starred Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro and Chazz Palminteri. The July list of largest New York City retail leases featured a movie star, too, in addition to, well, the usual suspects: a fitness center, a department store and restaurants.
Read on to find out the who, what, and how big of the biggest retail leases of July.
1) Chelsea Piers Fitness | 24-11 Jackson Avenue | Long Island City | 72,000 sf
The fitness company signed a 29-year lease in Long Island City, marking its third recent expansion and its first foray into Queens. Erin Grace and Matt Ogle of JLL represented the tenant. The building’s landlords are Tavros Capital, Charney Companies and Incoco Capital.
2) P.C. Richard & Son | 2220 Broadway | Upper West Side | 30,000 sf
The electronics retailer, which traces back to a Bensonhurst hardware store opened by Dutch immigrant Pieter Christian Richard in 1909, inked a lease to take over DSW’s former space. Erin Grace and Hilary Sievers of JLL represented the tenant while Ariel Schuster and Mitch Heifetz of Newmark represented the landlord, the Zabar family, who began their food business in 1934 with a 22-foot-wide shop at the same corner as this lease, Broadway and West 80th Street.
3) Puig | 45 Rockefeller Plaza | Plaza District | 25,200 sf
The Spanish fashion and fragrance company inked a new lease in Manhattan, moving from half as much space at 183 Madison Avenue and doubling its U.S. footprint. Puig’s new landlord is Tishman Speyer.
4) Electric Shuffle | 1227 Broadway | Nomad | 10,372 sf
The cocktail bar signed a lease. SRS Real Estate Partners represented the tenant while Adam Weinblatt of Newmark represented the landlord, John Lam’s the Lam Group.
5) Salvaje | 1227 Broadway | Nomad | 9,810 sf
In the same Lam Group building, a Miami-based Japanese restaurant signed a lease as well. A three-member Newmark team including Weinblatt and Jason Pruger represented the tenant. Weinblatt also represented the landlord.
6) SAGA Hospitality | 360 Park Avenue South | Flatiron | 7,000 sf
An as-yet unnamed seafood restaurant has inked a 10-year lease in Flatiron. The building is owned by Boston Properties.
7) Atelier Jolie | 57 Great Jones Street | Noho | 6,600 sf
Angelina Jolie signed a lease in Noho for a new workspace for clothing designers. The space itself is the former apartment studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Richard Johnson of Odyssey Retail Advisors represented Jolie while John Roesch and Garrett Kelly of Meridian Capital Group represented the landlord, Robert Von Ancken.
![The Durst Organization's Ashlea Aaron (The Durst Organization)](https://static.therealdeal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AshleaAaron-e1691807478940.jpg)
8) Rosemary’s | 825 Third Avenue | Midtown East | 3,000 sf
The Italian restaurant signed a 20-year lease. David Latman of DLL Real Estate represented the tenant while a four-member Durst Organization team including Thomas Bow and Ashlea Aaron represented the landlord in-house.
9) Aesop | 64 Gansevoort Street | Meatpacking District | 2,000 sf
The luxury skincare brand inked a lease in a district made famous by the decidedly less glamorous business of carving up cattle carcasses. Charlie Koniver of Odyssey Retail Advisors represented the tenant while Jared Epstein and Jake Bank of Aurora Capital Associates represented the landlord in-house.
10) Champion Pizza | 1196 Fulton Street | Bedford-Stuyvesant | 1,700 sf
The pizzeria signed a 10-year lease. Josh Augenbaum of Augenbaum Realty represented both the tenant and the landlord, Bawabeh Brothers #2. The eatery is a 30-minute walk from the pizzeria in Spike Lee’s 1989 classic “Do the Right Thing.”