Famed NYC building lands major retailer to keep Ladies’ Mile bustling

Shrugging off speculation that the Ladies’ Mile shopping corridor was losing its juice, Burlington Coat Factory is doubling its space by moving to 620 Sixth Ave., the 1896-vintage, cast-iron building that’s one of the most iconic structures on the avenue between West 14th and West 23rd streets.

The clothier signed for just under 80,000 square feet, eating up what remained of nearly 100,000 square feet of retail space left behind by bankrupt Bed Bath and Beyond. The lease for three levels nearly doubles Burlington’s presence in the corridor, where it will leave  40,000 square feet at nearby 695 Sixth Ave.

The 12-year Burlington deal marks another back-from-the-brink success for building joint-venture owners RXR Realty and Hudson Bay Capital, which recapitalized 620 Sixth with a $320 million loan when Hudson Bay came in as a partner in October.

The pandemic and tenant bankruptcies left 620 Sixth half-empty in 2021. Today, of 500,000 square feet of office and retail space, almost none remains available after recent transactions, RXR managing director Bill Elder said. (The entire building has 700,000 square feet but property-services union BJ 32 owns 200,000 square feet as a condominium unit).

“Virtually it’s all leased except for 8,000 square feet where we have a great store coming,” Elder said.

He declined to name the incoming tenant.

The asking rent for Burlington was $100 per square foot for mid-building space and $175 per square foot for the two corners.

Meanwhile, both T.J. Maxx and Marshalls signed five-year retail renewals for roughly 68,000 and 38,000 square feet, respectively.

The owners also had their hands full on the office front after WeWork left behind its huge block.

“We had to reposition the whole building,” Elder said.

It didn’t take long. Tech firm Palantir signed for 140,000 square feet, mobile banking app Current took 72,000 square feet, and Cole Haan renewed on 62,000 square feet.

Burlington was represented by CNS Real Estate’s Cliff Simon. RXR was repped in-house by Daniel Birney and by RIPCO’s Richard Skulnik, Lindsay Zegans, Ben Sabin and Mary Schwagerl.

The nine-block-long, city-designated  Ladies Mile historic district shows no  evidence of a  retail exodus. Huge outposts of Trader Joe’s, Container Store and Old Navy share the blocks with such diverse users as Men’s Wearhouse, Blick art supplies, Nut Factory, “wellness” restaurant Oases and Genius Gems, a play-and-learn experience built around magnetic tiles.

Vacancies are mostly in small spaces. Sources said the space Burlington will leave behind won’t be on the market. The unconfirmed buzz is that 695 Sixth landlord Cudge Realty hopes to convert the building to apartments.

Meanwhile, big change is coming two blocks north. The National Museum of Mathematics leased over 34,000 square feet at 635 Sixth Ave. at the corner of West 20th Street. It’s nearly twice as large as the museum’s original space at 11 E. 26th St. and even larger compared with its current pop-up at 225 Fifth Ave.

It wasn’t known what the museum is paying to rent the new space, but the numbers clearly added up.

The deal’s a combination of a direct lease with landlord Spear Street Capital and a sublease from former tenant Lowe’s, Commercial Observe reported.