Gorgeous 490 Broadway Seals Two Deals for 19K Feet

Soho’s impossibly hip 490 Broadway has proven it’s still got it. The building has leased three full floors to one new tenant and one old one.

The Corcoran Group has renewed its lease for 12,000 square feet for the second and third floors for five years. Meanwhile, creative firm Trollbäck + Company has taken 7,000 square feet, or the entire fourth floor, in a long-term lease.

“This is a wonderful ‘Old New York’ building,” said Eric Cagner, of Newmark Knight Frank, which represented landlord Broadway Landmark Corporation. “Ever since it opened, in 1857, it’s been a destination for creative businesses.”

Indeed, the original tenant, E.V. Haughwout & Co., was said to have sold a mauve tea set to Mary Lincoln (apparently, that was considered very chic at the time). The building languished until it was restored in the late 1990s, and now boasts tenants such as Oprah fav the American Terry Corporation.

The building is now months into a complete makeover, including a full facade renovation and a new automatic elevator. That seems appropriate for the building, which pioneered New York’s first safe elevator.

The city’s aesthetically inclined tenants need not despair. The top floor will also open up later this year, with 15-foot-high, tin-finished ceilings and 24 windows. “It’s in many ways the most picturesque part of the building,” said Mr. Cagner. “It’s a perfect destination for hip, creative tenants looking to have a full-floor presence.”

Asking rents are around $40 a square foot, according to a Newmark spokeswoman.

Andy Weiss of Signature Partners represented Trollbäck + Company. No broker represented Corcoran in the deal.