JEMB Realty Inks 55 KSF in Manhattan

May 12, 2025

Retail Brokerage New York News More Northeast

This is one of the borough's largest retail leases in recent years.

Image of Herald Towers — The iconic Herald Towers rises 25 stories near Empire State Building. *Image courtesy of JEMB Realty*

Old Navy has leased half of JEMB Realty’s 34th & BWAY The Retail at Herald Square in Manhattan. The 55,000-square-foot commitment represents one of the largest retail deals in the borough in recent years and the most significant one this year.

Old Navy will relocate from 150 W. 34th St. and plans to open its two-level flagship store at the new location next year. Newmark Vice Chairman Ariel Schuster represented Old Navy, while LMJ Realty—the in-house affiliate of JEMB—negotiated on behalf of the owner.

The 110,000-square-foot 34th & BWAY is the four-story retail component of Herald Towers, a 1 million-square-foot residential building with 700 apartments. JEMB purchased the asset for $150 million back in 1999, according to CommercialEdge data. In 2018, the property became subject to a $228 million loan originated by AIG.

Originally developed as the Hotel McAlpin in 1912, the 25-story building was converted to residential use in 1980. The property underwent several transformations in recent years, due to Macy’s $235 million private investment in the revitalization of the Herald Square neighborhood.

Situated at 50 W. 34th St. within Manhattan’s Gramercy Park submarket, Herald Towers is near 34th Street–Herald Square subway and PATH station, which allow easy access across the New York City metropolitan area.

Manhattan’s busy retail scene

Manhattan’s retail sector showed steady improvement in the first quarter of this year, with overall leasing activity outpacing figures from a year ago, in line with the current retail market trends. However, average asking rents declined to $659 per square foot, down 5 percent quarter-over-quarter and 4 percent from the same time last year, according to a recent CBRE report.

Manhattan’s total leasing volume—counting both new leases and renewals—reached more than 3.5 million square feet on a rolling four-quarter basis, reflecting a 7 percent increase over the previous quarter and a 14 percent jump year-over-year, the report shows. The apparel sector was the second-most active in the borough, leases accounting for more than 148,000 square feet across 22 deals during the quarter.