Hobby Lobby Opening First Manhattan Store in Tribeca

The Green family will bring arts and crafts with an evangelical twist to Tribeca.

Hobby Lobby inked a lease to open its first Manhattan store across 70,716 square feet on the second floor of Edward J. Minskoff Equities’ 270 Greenwich Street, according to a report by JLL (JLL) and tenant broker Katz & Associates. The deal was first reported by Crain’s New York Business.

Spokespeople for Katz and landlord broker Ripco Real Estate did not disclose the asking rent at the two-story retail condominium. Asking rent for retail space in the neighborhood ranges from $35 to $373 per square foot, according to 42 listings currently available on Loopnet.

The Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby, founded by David Green, has been less focused on taking its religious freedom claims to the U.S. Supreme Court in recent years and more focused on growing its arts and crafts supply business. 

The chain has been dramatically expanding its footprint across the country in recent years, opening at least 160 new locations since 2019. There are now more than 1,000 Hobby Lobby stores around the United States, according to the company.

Hobby Lobby opened its first New York City location in March after signing a deal in 2022 at The Crossing at the Staten Island Mall.

In Tribeca, the store will move into spaces previously occupied by Bed Bath & Beyond and Barnes & Noble being consolidated into one retail spot, according to Katz.

And Hobby Lobby doesn’t plan to stop. It’s looking to open locations in the other three boroughs, according to Katz’s Brian Katz and Daniel DePasquale, who handled the Tribeca deal for the chain.

Ripco’s Peter Ripka, Andrew Mandell and Sam Martorella represented Minskoff Equities and did not respond to requests for comment.

Other tenants in the 236,000-square-foot retail condominium include Whole Foods. The upper floors of the 32-story building are residential space.

Abigail Nehring can be reached at anehring@commercialobserver.com.