Ralph Lauren Expands to 280K SF at RXR’s Starrett-Lehigh Building

Iconic fashion brand Ralph Lauren has tacked on 22,000 square feet to its already giant office footprint in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood, Commercial Observer has learned.

Ralph Lauren is expanding to 280,000 square feet at RXR’s Starrett-Lehigh Building, also known as 601 West 26th Street. The expanded footprint will give the luxury brand access to the second-floor mezzanine in addition to its existing offices on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors.

The tenant signed a 13-year deal, according to landlord RXR, which did not disclose the asking rent. The average office asking rent in Midtown South, however, was $86.38 per square foot in May, according to a report from CBRE.

Eric Deutsch of CBRE negotiated on behalf of Ralph Lauren, while Daniel Birney and Denise Rivera handled the deal in-house for RXR.

Deutsch did not respond to a request for comment, while RXR declined a request for additional comment.

Ralph Lauren seems to have been shifting its footprint in the interim between now and when it signed its last renewal agreement at Starrett-Lehigh, for what was at the time a 250,000-square-foot office in October 2023.

However, the amount of space it occupies in the building is much smaller than what it used to be.

In 2017, Ralph Lauren began consolidating its offices into the Starrett-Lehigh Building, leasing 450,000 square feet at its peak in 2018, CO reported at the time.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.