Paul Taylor Dance moves to 31K SF Garment District space

The Paul Taylor Dance Company signed a lease for 31,000 square feet at George Comfort & Sons’ 307 West 38th Street in the Garment District, the New York Times reported. 

The property is an office building, but the landlord and tenant will work together to renovate two floors to be used as dance studios and education facilities for the Taylor School, which serves children and adults.

The leasehold agreement takes a unique shape: The dance company will essentially own the space for the next 30 years. George Comfort and the troupe will split the costs of the renovation, expected to carry a price tag between $8 million and $10 million.

George Comfort and Paul Taylor, a nonprofit, will be able to claim an exemption from property taxes on the space.

The move is expected to take place early next year. The dance troupe will hang on to a 13,000-square-foot space in the Lower East Side, which it will use for performances, community programs and event rentals.

Lincoln Property Company’s Jeffrey Rosenblatt represented Paul Taylor, according to a press release. George Comfort was represented by an in-house team, including chief executive officer Peter Duncan.

The pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the dance company, canceling performances and tours. The troupe’s budget was slashed from $10 million in 2019 to $6.4 million in 2022.

The troupe is finding better footing, however, as the worst of Covid wanes. The budget is back up to $8.3 million and box office sales are hovering around pre-pandemic levels. 

George Comfort landed $70 million from JPMorgan Chase in 2017 to refinance the 300,000-square-foot property. A year later, the Gay Men’s Health Crisis signed a 30-year lease for 112,000 square feet. Retail tenants include Culture Espresso, Nimbus and City Bicycle NYC.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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