Owners Tap C&W to Bring New Life to Former SoHo Teddy Bear Factory
By Al Barbarino March 15, 2013 4:26 pm
reprints
The new ownership of a former teddy bear factory at 497 Broome Street in SoHo is breathing new life into a building that’s available for lease for the first time since it was built in 1900, The Commercial Observer has learned.
A.M. Properties and Quality Capital have appointed Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) as exclusive leasing agent for the 6,700-square-foot building that manufactured teddy bears back when SoHo was considered a manufacturing zone.
“There’s a great vibe in there,” said C&W’s David Tricarico, who is marketing the space with Alex Cohen. “It’s an extremely charming space, with exposed brick on four sides and a cute feel.”
“You feel like you’re in there with Goldilocks,” he added, referring to the Story of the Three Bears, which in 1849 was revised to include Goldilocks as the antagonist instead of an ugly old woman.
Like Goldilocks did to the famous bedtime tale, ownership is breathing new life into the building after purchasing the property earlier this year for $4.9 million (according to city records).
But instead of stealing porridge and breaking things, the group, made up of members of the Wasserman family, is fixing things up with a renovation project that will restore the building’s exposed brick and wood finishes and increase ceiling heights. The renovation is slated for completion in six months.
The building offers roughly 1,200 square feet on the ground floor, 1,000 square feet in the basement and 1,500 square feet on floors two, three and four, as well as a roughly 1,000-square-foot roof deck reserved for the top-floor tenant.
Mr. Tricarico said the “build-to-suit” boutique property calls for a tenant that would ideally take multiple floors.
“We are looking for someone who would benefit from the unique layout of building,” he said, adding that jewelers and designers have expressed interest in the space. “We would hope that a retailer takes the ground floor and they can do a showroom on two, and three and four could be used for administrative or offices.”
Neighborhood retailers include MarieBelle, Catherine Malandrino, Kate Spade, Jerome Dreyfus, and Zadig & Voltaire.
Earlier this week C&W announced that it had been tapped by St. John’s University to market a development site at 101 Murray Street in TriBeCa, where a 10-story property currently houses the university’s School of Risk Management.
A C&W team of Helen Hwang, Nat Rockett, Michael Rotchford and Steve Kohn are marketing that site.
