The luxury department store Barneys is expanding its landmark flagship store on Madison Avenue.
The 230,000-square-foot store on the corner 61st Street is taking space upstairs in its long-time home, 660 Madison Avenue. Barneys owns and occupies the 23-story property’s first nine floors. In the expansion deal, the store is leasing an additional 12,000 square feet on the 10th floor, a little less than half the floor.
![660 madison1 Barneys Expands Flagship Store](http://observer-media.go-vip.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2012/06/660-madison1.jpg?w=97&h=150)
The building’s upper floors, 10 through 23, are owned by the Safra family, which controls a banking empire based out of Brazil, and are leased out as office space, attracting a high end clientele of boutique investment firms as tenants.
Barneys won’t actually bring retail space onto the 10th floor but relocate offices it currently has on its condo floors below, a move that will allow it to increase its selling space at the location.
A CBRE team led by vice chairman Paul Amrich, Sacha Zarba and Neil King handles leasing at the property for the Safra family.
The deal isn’t the only activity on the office floors. Rumors have been buzzing for weeks that Lexington Partners, an investment firm, is in talks to renew its lease for 660 Madison Avenue’s top two floors.
Rents in the building are above $100 per square foot for upper floors.
A spokesperson at Barneys could not be reached for comment.