Commercial Real Estate & Advisory

Docs Have Rx For Troubled Worth St. Storefront

By Adrianne Pasquarelli | May 4, 2010

The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary will take over long vacant ground-floor space downtown; Really Bad Coffee may soak up the building’s leftovers.

The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary is saving the day at a long vacant retail space at 75 Worth St. downtown. The medical group recently signed a 15-year lease for 5,500 square feet at the address, which will be used as its first walk-in clinic and is located between Church Street and Broadway. Asking rent was about $55 a square foot.

“The ground floor space was somewhat of a challenge for a conventional retailer, but lent itself perfectly for medical use,” said MICHELLE STONE, the Sinvin Realty broker who represented landlord 75 Worth Street, LLC, adding that the space has been empty for at least five years. “After further scrutiny of the floor plan, the landlord proposed to give the tenant an expanded portion of the back space and retain the storefront portion of the space.”

The retained storefront leaves about 1,000 square feet available for a new tenant, though real estate insiders speculate the landlord will expand its burgeoning coffee store RBC (Really Bad Coffee), which is next door at 71 Worth St.

Brad Cohen of Ripco Real Estate represented the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary.