Broadway Home of Century 21 to Welcome Sephora and Barcade
By Amanda Schiavo December 9, 2024 3:03 pm
reprints
Beauty retail giant Sephora and Barcade, a chain of bar-arcade hybrids for adults (think Dave and Buster’s but slightly less obnoxious), are heading to Broadway, taking space once occupied by another iconic retail establishment, Century 21.
ASG Equities, the real estate family office of the Gindi family — founders of the Century 21 department store — has signed Sephora to a 5,000-square-foot lease at 175-177 Broadway. The latest Sephora location will open this week, according to The New York Post, which first reported the deals.
Barcade will occupy 15,000 square feet at 10-12 Cortlandt Street, the former home of Century 21’s men’s shoe section, while Sephora will operate out of what used to be Century 21’s women’s shoe department. Barcade’s new flagship bar will open in “early 2025,” according to a statement from ASG Equities announcing the leases.
ASG declined to provide the length of each lease or the asking rents. However, a CBRE report found that average asking retail rent on Broadway from Battery Park to Chambers Street was $242 per square foot in the third quarter of the year.
Century 21 once occupied 250,000 square feet of retail space at the Broadway location. After shutting down for a while during the COVID-19 pandemic, it filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and closed all of its 13 stores that year.
However, Century 21 returned the next year in South Korea and reopened in the Financial District in 2023, but the department store now occupies only 100,000 square feet of its former flagship location, the Post noted. Earlier this year, ASG Equities formed a joint venture with real estate developers the Cayre Family and artist Roy Nachum to bring the Mercer Labs Museum of Art and Technology to the space that was once Century 21’s men’s suit department.
“From resurrecting Century 21 to launching Mercer Labs, we have been very intentional in activating the streetscape with a blend of experiential offerings and traditional retailers to create a vibrant destination for Lower Manhattan’s residents, workers and visitors,” George Karnoupakis, head of asset management at ASG, said in the statement. “This corridor has long been a cornerstone of the downtown experience, and we are proud to usher in its next chapter with an exciting and eclectic lineup of retailers.”
ASG Equities was represented by Steven Soutendijk and Sean Moran of Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) in both transactions. Jason Pennington of Ripco Real Estate brokered it for Barcade.
“[Barcade] chose downtown for the high-density office, residential and hospitality [in the area],” Pennington told Commercial Observer via email. “Barcade is the best entertainment operator, always forward-thinking with their expansion.”
Virginia Pittarelli and Christine Jorge of Retail by MONA handled the lease for Sephora.
Cushman & Wakefield declined to comment. Retail by MONA did not respond to requests for comment.
Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.
