Two new tenants at famed NYC Midtown towers bolster luxury retail market

Two momentous new leases have been signed at premier Midtown locations, giving a boost to the entire Manhattan luxury retail market as well as to their landlords.

Our sources must remain anonymous in the post-pandemic world of omerta. Strict non-disclosure agreements do wonders for lawyers’ billable hours without doing much to keep information secret.

Venerable, London-based auction house Bonhams is moving to 111 W. 57th St., the pencil-thin condo tower developed by Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, JDS Development Group and Property Markets Group, our moles revealed. 

Bonhams will move and expand from about 30,000 square feet at Minskoff Equities’ 590 Madison Ave., where it’s been since 2008, to more than 41,000 square feet at its new location. It’s a huge coup for 111 W. 57th, one of the city’s most-watched new residential projects.

It wasn’t immediately known when Bonhams will move. But we learned it will occupy the landmarked former Steinway Piano showroom at the tower’s base, as well as an adjacent, glass-wrapped atrium.

According to a brochure, the rotunda “once welcomed musical performances by such virtuosos as Sergei Rachmaninoff, Vladimir Horowitz and Sir Elton John.” 

The “golden-age” interior was designated a city landmark in 2013.

A Newmark team of Jackie Totolo, Pierce Thompson, Adam Weinblatt and Robert Cohen repped the developers. Cushman & Wakefield’s Kenji Ota and Jennifer Konefsky acted for Bonhams. None could be reached.

Meanwhile, residential sales are said to be booming in the 1,428-foot-tall condo tower designed by SHoP Architects, which has been called “the world’s skinniest skyscraper.”

Minskoff executive vice-president Jeffrey Sussman declined to comment on the situation at 590 Madison Ave.

Not far east, Under Armour has subleased an impressive 24,000 square feet of retail space on two levels at Boston Properties’ 767 Fifth Ave. (the GM Building) to Moncler Group, the Italian luxury outerwear brand.

Under Armour leased the former FAO Schwarz space at 767 Fifth after the toys mecca moved its giant stuffed animals to Rockefeller Center in 2015. But Under Armour oddly decided not to occupy the space next to the thriving Apple store under the cube on the tower’s plaza, leaving the East 58th Street corner of the tower embarrassingly dark.

As at 111 W. 57th St., terms were not known but The Post reported in 2022 that Under Armour was asking $17 million a year for the space, which includes 14,000 square feet on the ground and 10,000 square feet on a second level.

It was understood that Moncler will use its new digs for its main brand and for Stone Island, a luxury line it acquired in 2020. A source said it will likely include an “experiential” element.

Cushman & Wakefield power-broker Steven Soutendijk said, “I can’t comment at all.”