Whitney Finds Tenants - Whitney Museum leases storefront spaces in New York City - Brief Article

Art in America, Dec, 1999 by Stephanie Cash

More than two years after the Whitney Museum essentially forced the closing of the venerable independent bookstore Books & Co. in a rent dispute, the museum has finally been able to lease the storefront spaces of five town houses it owns on Madison Avenue between 74th and 75th streets. Several of the spaces, located in one of the city's prime real-estate areas, had been empty for almost four years. (Commercial property on Madison Avenue in the 70s rents for nearly $300 per square foot per year, and a few blocks away, in the 60s, it can go for $500-$650 per square foot.)

The museum had hoped to combine the spaces (a total of four) in order to rent to one tenant, but certain restrictions hampered its search. The town houses' facades are landmarked, so tenants have to get approval from the appropriate city commission to make alterations. More importantly, the Whitney was offering only five-year leases and reserved the right to reclaim the property at the end of each lease for its own future expansion, discouraging possible renters from investing in interior renovations.

Because of the uncertain long-term prospects, four retailers and the museum agreed to leases with below-market rent. The Whitney's new neighbors are Michael Ashton, a jeweler with another location nearby; Calypso St. Barths, which sells beach clothing and accessories; and Christian Louboutin, a women's shoe store and the French designer's first venture in New York. The fourth space, currently occupied by the museum's gift shop, will be rented to Red Rose Music, a maker of high-end custom sound systems. The gift shop will be relocated to the museum's lower level next to the restaurant.

Coincidentally, a new book called Bookstore has just been published by Harcourt Brace. Written by Lynne Tillman, it chronicles the history of Books & Co. (which operated from 1977 to '97) and its founder, Jeannette Watson, through anecdotes and quotes by writers, store employees and customers, many of them famous. One of the more portentous quotes included is from a conversation about the bookstore's demise between Woody Allen and reporter Ron Rosenbaum, which originally appeared in the New York Observer. "`What are they gonna replace it with,' Woody Allen asks glumly, `another expensive foreign clothing store?'"