Pace Gallery Seeks Tenant For Part Of NYC Headquarters

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Pace Gallery is searching for a tenant to occupy one or more sections of its extensive Chelsea headquarters in New York. This move appears to be the latest effort to reduce operating costs following a significant reorganization earlier this year. The news was initially reported by Julie Davich over the weekend in her newsletter, The Appraisal, which stated that Pace aimed to lease space within its eight-story building at 540 West 25th Street.

A spokesperson for Pace confirmed to ARTnews that the gallery is indeed exploring opportunities to bring another tenant into the building. However, the spokesperson stressed that this decision would not impact the gallery's exhibition areas.“Given the size of our building, we are exploring opportunities for a tenant to occupy a portion of our space to share in the operating costs,” the spokesperson said.“This space is not part of the gallery's public areas and is not used by artists, collectors, or visitors, so there will be no impact on our exhibitions, programs, or visitor experience.”

This development is not entirely unexpected. In June, Pace announced a sweeping restructuring that included removing more than 50 artists from its roster and cutting its staff by approximately 20 percent. At that time, CEO Marc Glimcher informed the Financial Times that despite the considerable expense, the gallery remained committed to its New York headquarters. The FT reported the building's annual rent was said to be $9 million, a figure Glimcher neither confirmed nor denied. He described the building as a product of a very different art market, calling it“a 2015 decision,” in reference to the market's effervescence when the headquarters was initially planned. While he noted that subdividing the building would not be simple, he acknowledged it had“a lot of office space, so we shall see.” Glimcher had previously hinted that a space-sharing arrangement could be considered, and the gallery's latest statement makes this possibility much more concrete.

The Chelsea flagship, designed by Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture and completed in 2019, was conceived during the peak of the mega-gallery expansion era. Davich indicated that the building cost roughly $100 million to construct, with developer Weinberg Properties covering the shell, and Pace reportedly spending an additional $18.2 million on the interior build-out. This effort comes several months after Pace initiated a broader business overhaul. In June, the gallery also eliminated 50 staff jobs alongside its roster cuts. Glimcher was notably candid about the rationale behind these changes, telling ARTnews that the restructuring aimed“to break the...self-reinforcing cycle of rising costs and rising prices” and return to the gallery's core principles. Real estate, it seems, has been an integral part of this recalibration from the outset. Pace also placed its 8,600-square-foot Hanover Square gallery in London on the rental market and began searching for a smaller London location, with Glimcher expressing a desire for something“less corporate.” Therefore, finding a tenant for some of its unused office space appears to be another component of the same strategy, maintaining Pace's significant public presence while reducing the infrastructure costs incurred during a considerably stronger art market.

We previously reported:

A Chelsea building housing Miles McEnery and Yancey Richardson galleries will go to auction after a $14.2 million loan default, but galleries plan to stay.

Source: ARTnews

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