Unlike Dee Dee Ramone’s rap career, this jacket brand has resonated for decades and will relocate its New York City flagship in the coming months.
Schott NYC, the 95-year-old company which made the iconic leather jackets worn by the Ramones, is leaving 236 Elizabeth Street where it has been for the last decade and moving to 2,500 square feet at 32 Howard Street in SoHo, Commercial Observer has learned.
Asking rent was $300 per square foot in the 10-year lease, according to the landlord, Greg Kraut’s KPG Funds.
“Schott NYC is the perfect tenant for 32 Howard,” Kraut said in a statement. “They represent what the building is and complement our current award-winning tenant Rick Owens.”
“Urban Retail is having a renaissance,” Kraut added. “Retailers are in a flight to quality and it is why people travel to take Instagram pics on our corner — to capture a little bit of edge and a hell of a lot of style. It is also the reason avant-garde fashion brands thrive on this street.”
Gregory Tannor and Jessica Gerstein of Lee & Associates NYC represented the tenant in the deal whileRichard Skulnik, Lindsay Zegans and Ben Sabin of Ripco Real Estate negotiated on behalf of the KPG.
“32 Howard Street… was ideal for Schott NYC,” Tannor said in a statement. “The building, the location and the SoHo Market, fit just perfectly no different than Schott’s leather coats and clothing line.”
Ripco did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Schott was started in 1928 with a factory in SoHo and is credited with designing the first motorcycle jacket, which was later embraced by punk rock musicians including the Ramones and Joan Jett. It’s scheduled to open its new storefront within the next six months following a buildout of the space.
“We couldn’t be happier to find a new home in SoHo at 32 Howard,” Jason Schott, COO of the brand, said in a statement. “When my great-grandfather started making leather jackets over 100 years ago, he peddled them door to door, less than a mile from here. Today our factory is just a stone’s throw away, and it feels right for our customers to shop our American-made goods in a former factory building steeped in New York history.”
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.