Far away from the Orthodox Jews that have cursed him and the former business partners that have hounded him, Aby Rosen is smiling.
The flamboyant developer and famed art collector has signed a deal with Larry Gagosian, the world’s most famous gallery owner, at 980 Madison Avenue. The Gagosian Gallery has renewed slightly more than 50,000 square feet on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors for 10 years.
Aside from Mr. Rosen’s famed love of the high-brow, the lease is good news for the RFR Realty address, which late last decade got a lot of bad press. For three years, angry preservationists, including the venerable Tom Wolfe, stymied plans for a 90,000-square-foot, Norman Foster-designed tower atop the landmarked galleries building. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a scaled-back version in October 2009—only after the market had taken a tumble.
“Jones Lang LaSalle was able to provide critical market intelligence to Larry Gagosian that allowed him to make an informed decision about the future of his flagship art gallery,” Jones Lang LaSalle‘s Scott Panzer, who represented the tenant along with Jeff Fischer, said in a statement. “That information also allowed us to negotiate a beneficial transaction for Gagosian Gallery in its renewal at 980 Madison Avenue.”
Mr. Rosen handled the landlord side himself.
lkusisto@observer.com
