Room & Board has leased 60,000 square feet for its new Manhattan flagship at Savanna’s 249 West 17th Street in Chelsea — the first lease at the building since a major renovation.
The American home furnishings retailer will occupy the entire ground, second and third floors, with its entrance on West 18th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.
Room & Board CEO John Gabbert cited the “unique mix of retailers, restaurants, residential high-rises, converted warehouses and contemporary art galleries” as the neighborhood’s allure.
“We look forward to bringing our handcrafted, American-made furniture and accessories to the neighborhood while retaining our SoHo location to serve our customers in the New York region,” Mr. Gabbert said, in a statement announcing the deal.
Built in 1902 as the Siegel Cooper Company warehouse, the building retains its 14- to 17-foot-high ceilings, 35-foot columns and 9-foot windows.
Savanna purchased the building (and adjacent 245 West 17th Street) in November 2012, and has since completed an overhaul that includes a new lobby and security system, water-cooled HVAC systems, elevators, high-end core bathrooms, a restored façade and roof.
“They are the perfect tenant to complement the transformation of the building and the area,” said Amy Zhen from Newmark (NMRK) Grubb Knight Frank, who represented the landlord with Jeffrey Roseman.
“We looked at what savannah was doing at the building and saw that they are doing an impeccable renovation,” added Richard Hodos of CBRE (CBRE), who represented the tenant with Daniel Alesandro of the same firm, Nina Kampler of Kampler Advisory Group, and Tom Hauschild of the Tegra Group.
“We really liked the idea of being in this area,” he said, noting the proximity to Hudson Yards and the High Line. “We felt that Room & Board should take a serious look — and they fell in love with it.”
The retailer will retain its existing Soho showroom, though that wasn’t part of the original plan.
“The original idea was to replace the Soho store, but as it evolved they determined to do additional store,” Mr. Hodos said. “We focused on the West Side mainly because of the tremendous amount of development and housing units being created, all the way from the Holland Tunnel up to the Upper West Side.”
Chelsea had one of the lowest direct vacancy rates in the nation and is anchored by global corporations and retailers such as Google, Giorgio Armani, Ebay, EMI and Deutsche.
