Under Armour Puts 24K SF of Planned GM Building Flagship Up for Sublease

An Under Armour spokesperson did not provide any additional comment on why it’s putting the retail space up for sublease.

Under Armour first signed on to take over the former FAO Schwarz space in the GM Building in 2016, beating out Nike for it, as Commercial Observer previously reported. The fitness brand originally planned to open the Fifth Avenue flagship in 2019, but it was delayed and its debut was pushed back to the first half of this year, the Baltimore Business Journal reported in 2018.

It’s unclear when and if Under Armour plans to open a store at 767 Fifth Avenue.

The coronavirus pandemic has been brutal for retailers, as brands were forced to shutter their stores for months last year and dozens filed for bankruptcy.

It’s also led to an ever-increasing glut of sublease space around New York City as companies and brands try to shrink their portfolios. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan Chase, the largest private tenant of office space in Manhattan, wants to dump around 800,000 square feet of sublease space onto the market.

And Under Armour isn’t the only tenant in the GM Building trying to offload space. Hedge fund York Capital Management is looking to cut about 40 percent of its 50,000-square-foot office in the building, Bloomberg reported.

Under Armour has 15 years left on its lease at the GM Building, according to a Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) brochure for the space. The asking rents were not available.

C&W’s Steven Soutendijk is marketing the space for Under Armour. A spokesperson for C&W declined to comment.