T
he owners of 425 Fifth Avenue, a tower between East 39th and 40th streets, have secured another major tenant with the signing of Life Time for 52,000 square feet on four levels. This deal marks one of Manhattan's largest retail-space deals this year, following Amazon's recent lease of 330,000 square feet in the same building.

    Life Time will occupy space previously held by a Staples store and is set to open behind a prominent Fifth Avenue entrance in early 2027. The company has 180 clubs across the US and Canada, with seven other locations in Manhattan, two in Brooklyn, and another planned for the supertall Brooklyn Tower condo project.

    "We want to serve both our residential and commercial cores," said Parham Javaheri, Life Time's chief property development officer. "The location is more commercial, but there's significant residential growth nearby." The 10 Bryant Park edition will feature a luxurious co-ed "wet" suite, workout floor, recovery space, and boutique-style studios for group fitness formats.

    Eli Elefant, CEO of Property & Building Corp., the building's landlord, said the company had the opportunity to reimagine the property in a post-Covid world. After losing HSBC as a tenant, they refocused on attracting tech companies and successfully marketed the space to big users, including Amazon. The 30-story tower is now fully leased.

    Elefant met with Javaheri over a game of pickleball, which led to a discussion about a lifestyle-physical concept for the building. They formed a partnership, with Atlantic Retail's Joe Mastromonaco representing Life Time and JLL's Patrick Smith acting for the ownership.