Whole Foods Market has signed a lease agreement for a 9,000-square-foot retail space in New York City's Murray Hill neighbourhood in Manhattan. The lease, which is for 15 years, includes ground-floor retail space and outdoor terraces at 509 Third Avenue. This was revealed in a memorandum of lease filed with the city records on Friday morning.
The building in question, known as “The Murray”, is a 35-storey apartment tower with 229 residential units, developed by Kahen Properties in collaboration with Lalezarian Properties. A Whole Foods spokesperson confirmed the lease in an email to Commercial Observer but declined to provide further details.
Concept of the 'Whole Foods Market Daily Shop'
The new Manhattan branch of Whole Foods will feature a smaller format. The store will follow the new 'Whole Foods Market Daily Shop' concept from the Amazon-owned grocer. These stores, tailored for urban areas, are designed for quick purchases and offer prepared meals for takeaway, fresh produce, meat, baked goods, and local specialities, as described on the company's website.
The format was first introduced in 2024 in nearby Lenox Hill and has since been established 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.
Contract Details and Market Rates
Majid Kahen of Kahen Properties signed the memorandum of lease on behalf of 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 external broker. The asking rent for the ground-floor space was not disclosed in the memorandum. However, data from CBRE shows that retail space in nearby Herald Square was priced at $394 per square foot in the second quarter of 2026.
Spokespeople for Kahen and Lalezarian Properties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
