Bath & Body Works will open a new location in Manhattan's Flatiron District. The purveyor of soaps and scented lotions has signed a lease for the entire retail space, just under 9,000 square feet, at 129 Fifth Avenue, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
The store, owned by Acadia Realty Trust, is set to move into the two-storey retail space in autumn 2027. Crain's New York Business first reported the lease. The eight-storey building, located between East 19th and East 20th Street, houses 30 co-op residential units on its upper floors.
Lease Terms and Brokers
The exact duration of the lease and the asking rent are currently unknown. However, a CBRE report showed that retail rents along Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District averaged $301 per square foot in the third quarter of 2026.
Ariel Schuster and Michael Paster of Newmark brokered the deal for the landlord. Jeremy Ezra and Mai Shachi, also from Newmark, represented the tenant, according to information from Crain's. It is believed that Bath & Body Works is replacing fashion retailer Express in its new Flatiron District store, although it is unclear which other tenants vacated the retail space at 129 Fifth Avenue to facilitate the new deal. Express had only signed a 5,000-square-foot lease at the property in 2022.
Presence in New York City
Bath & Body Works operates at least 14 other branches in New York City, distributed across all five boroughs. One of these branches is located at 304 Park Avenue South, not far from the new Fifth Avenue store. There, in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, the retailer sued the landlord, SL Green Realty, to be released from its 2,500-square-foot lease.
Bath & Body Works argued at the time that an order from then-Governor Andrew Cuomo to close all non-essential retailers in the state rendered the lease "no longer enforceable," as reported by Commercial Observer. It is currently unclear whether the new lease represents a relocation for the retailer's store from 304 Park Avenue South.
