Beauty retailer Sephora is taking over a new retail space of 4,200 square feet (approx. 390 square metres) at 401 West 14th Street. The cosmetics giant has signed a lease agreement with owners Taconic Partners and Nuveen Real Estate to relocate its existing Meatpacking District store one block north from 21-27 Ninth Avenue, the landlords announced.
Jason Greenstone of Cushman & Wakefield represented the owners in the transaction. For Sephora, the deal was negotiated by Virginia Pittarelli of Retail by MONA. The opening of the new location is expected in the first quarter of 2027.
Market Conditions and Location Details
The duration of the lease and the asking rent for the ground-floor space were not disclosed. According to C&W data, the average gross starting rent for retail space in the Meatpacking District in the second quarter of this year was $321 per square foot.
The four-storey building on the corner of Ninth Avenue is largely occupied by a three-storey Apple Flagship Store. The property is located on a busy retail corridor, just two blocks from Chelsea Market and Google's East Coast headquarters at 111 Eighth Avenue. Taconic acquired 401 West 14th Street in 2005 for $34.6 million and subsequently repositioned the retail and office building with a renovated façade, new windows and updated HVAC systems.
Retail Market Development
The Meatpacking District's retail submarket recorded the second-strongest rental growth in Manhattan last quarter, after Third Avenue. Although availability has decreased, the rate of 17.3 per cent remains the second highest in the city, after Herald Square.
A spokesperson for Retail by MONA declined to comment on the deal. Spokespersons for Sephora and C&W did not respond to requests for comment.
