Free People Inks 6K-SF Deal for Store Near Union Square

Women’s clothing retailer Free People is moving its Union Square store to a different spot within its building, Commercial Observer has learned.

Free People, which is part of a brand portfolio called URBN that includes Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, has signed a 10-year lease for 5,500 square feet at the base of Kalimian Properties’ 79 Fifth Avenue, according to a source with knowledge of the deal. Asking rent was $400 per square foot.

Free People moved into its current mid-block space at the Fifth Avenue building between East 15th and East 16th streets in 2007, and it will relocate to the property’s corner retail space as part of the deal, the source said. Its new space spans 4,300 square feet on the ground floor and 1,200 square feet in the basement.

McDevitt Company’s Tim Duffy and Wade McDevitt brokered the deal for the tenant, while Newmark’s Peter Whitenack and Robert Cohen represented the landlord.

Newmark declined to comment, while spokespeople for Free People and McDevitt did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The landlord could not be reached for comment.

Free People’s Union Square store was the retailer’s first location in Manhattan, and it now has four other New York City spots throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to its website.

Other tenants of 79 Fifth Avenue include business management consultant Capgemini America and streaming service Hulu, as well as Citi Bank in the property’s retail space.

News of Free People’s deal comes after the retailer was ordered in August 2022 to pay $13 million in skipped rent for its four-year lease at Delshah Capital’s 58-60 Ninth Avenue in the Meatpacking District, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

A federal judge determined that Free People had breached the terms of its 10-year lease at the property by missing rent for two months, CO reported.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.