Whole Foods to Open Daily Shop at Murray Hill’s 509 Third Avenue

Whole Foods Market has leased a 9,000-square-foot retail space in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood. 

The 15-year deal occupies a ground-floor space and outdoor terraces at 509 Third Avenue, according to a memorandum of lease filed in city records Friday morning. The 35-story, 229-unit apartment tower, known as the Murray, was developed by Kahen Properties with Lalezarian Properties.

A spokesperson for Whole Foods confirmed the lease in an email to Commercial Observer, but declined to share further details.

Whole Foods’ newest Manhattan location will be on the smaller side. The store will follow the Amazon-owned grocer’s new Whole Foods Market Daily Shop format. The quick-trip urban shops sell grab-and-go meals alongside fresh produce, meat, bakery items and local specialty foods, according to the company’s website. 

The format was first rolled out in nearby Lenox Hill in 2024, and has since arrived in cities nationwide. Additional locations in Brooklyn and Hoboken, N.J., were announced late last year. Most recently, the grocer signed a lease for 8,121 square feet to open a daily shop at 1524 Second Avenue on the Upper East Side.

Kahen Properties’ Majid Kahen signed the lease memorandum for the landlord, while Paul Hilliard, vice president of real estate at Whole Foods, signed for the grocer. It is unclear whether either party worked with an outside brokerage.

The asking rent for the ground-floor space was not disclosed in the memorandum, but retail space in the nearby Herald Square area was $394 per square foot during the second quarter of 2026, according to CBRE data.

Spokespeople for Kahen and Lalezarian Properties did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Emily Davis can be reached at edavis@commercialobserver.com.