Wegmans Chairman Signs Deal for Bed Bath & Beyond’s Former UWS Space
By Mark Hallum February 13, 2024 3:28 pm
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Wegmans might be ringing up a second Manhattan location after signing a lease near Lincoln Center, but plans for the space are unclear.
The grocery chain’s chairman, Danny Wegman, signed a lease for 58,874 square feet at Glenwood Management’s 1932 Broadway, Wegmans confirmed.
The deal is a bit of a second chance for Wegman, as 1932 Broadway was the supermarket chain’s first choice for entering the New York City market before opening its Astor Place location last year. Now that Bed Bath & Beyond has vacated the spot following its bankruptcy in early 2023, Wegmans was able to secure the retail space.
But the lease signed directly by the Wegmans chairman appears to be some kind of a personal investment and exact plans for the space are not known, according to a spokesperson for the chain.
The New York Post first reported the deal.
“Prior to opening our Astor Place store, we were working with Glenwood to lease the space at 1932 Broadway. When that didn’t pan out, we had the opportunity to sign the lease for Astor Place,” a spokesperson for Wegmans told Commercial Observer. “Following the Astor Place opening, Danny Wegman learned the 1932 Broadway space was still available. He restarted negotiations and recently signed a long-term lease for the space.”
Wegmans did not provide the asking rent or the length of the lease for the space between West 64th and 65th streets, but retail rents on Broadway between West 72nd and 86th Streets are $242 per square foot, according to a Real Estate Board of New York report on the second half of 2023.
At 1932 Broadway, Bed Bath & Beyond leased a ground-floor entryway and two spacious floors below street level. If Wegmans moves into the space, it will compete with a Whole Foods at Columbus Circle and a recently opened Morton Williams supermarket three blocks north at 2015 Broadway.
Ripco Real Estate‘s Beth Rosen, Ben Davis, Gene Spiegelman and co-founder Peter Ripka negotiated the transaction for both the landlord and the tenant, according to the Post. The brokerage did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Following its bankruptcy action in the early days of 2023, Bed Bath & Beyond planned to exit 109 of its leases, with Burlington Coat Factory paying up to $12 million to take over 44 of those locations, CO reported at the time. BB&B abandoned the 1932 Broadway space in the process.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.
