AJ Camhi of RFR has brokered a 29,750 s/f lease at 190 Bowery, the landmarked 1898-vintage architectural icon located at the corner of Spring St. and the Bowery, with a soon-to-be-named consortium that serves as the umbrella company for the world's foremost fashion talent age ncies and archives.
The group includes Trunk Archive and is headed by Trunk Archive CEO Matthew Moneypenny. It will occupy floors two through six of the historic building, leaving only the ground floor retail space available. RFR closed on the acquisition of 190 Bowery in January.
"It's serendipity that a group of renowned, international photo agencies has leased space previously occupied by Jay Maisel Photography," said Aby Rosen, co-founder and principal of RFR. "With the upper floors fully leased, our attention is focused on finding a great tenant for the tremendous ground floor retail opportunity in one of New York's most desirable neighborhoods."
190 Bowery is situated at the convergence of some of New York's most exciting neighborhoods, including Nolita, NoHo, SoHo, and the Lower East Side. The area has become one of the world's premier shopping districts, with major global retailers staking their footholds here alongside smaller boutiques that contribute to a unique shopping experience sought out by tourists and locals.
The 38,000 s/f building, originally designed by the legendary architect Robert Maynicke to house the Germania Bank, is widely known as one of New York's finest examples of Beaux-Arts architecture. The property is unique among buildings of its size, age, and architectural pedigree in having served as a private residence for nearly 50 years leading up to RFR's acquisition. For this reason, in addition to the well-preserved exterior, many of the original architectural details of its period interior remain intact. The new tenant—which represents leading photographers, directors, stylists, hair & make-up artists and other related creatives—is pro-preservation and plans to use virtually all of the space in its existing historic configuration. Agencies in the group include Trunk Archive, CLM, Management Artists, Tim Howard Management, Bernstein & Andriulli, MAP Ltd., St.ers and many others.
RFR is a fully integrated real estate investment firm based in New York City with a core focus on select urban markets in the United States and Germany. Founded by Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs in the early 1990's, the firm has been an active force in the New York City and German real estate market for much of the past two decades. RFR's portfolio has grown to include more than 100 properties located in select domestic and international markets. While its property portfolio is anchored in the Manhattan and key German commercial markets, RFR also has significant commercial, residential, hotel, and retail holdings. RFR has a proven track record of adding significant value to the properties it acquires through property-level repositioning and strategic financial engineering. RFR has created an organization with deep experience in all phases of the property life cycle and is positioned to take advantage of market opportunities.
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