Real Estate : Soho House Sets Opening

One of London’s most exclusive private clubs has landed a New York outpost for its first stateside hotel right over Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s new restaurant, Spice Market. The Post has learned the founders of Soho House quietly speared its spot in the meatpacking district late last year, signing a long-term lease for 45,000 square feet at the gold-bricked 29 Ninth Ave. Soho House New York will take over the lobby, the third through sixth floors and the roof of the six-story, 1898 loft building. It is expected to open by the end of this year. Neighbors include Vitra, the contemporary Swiss contract furniture house that leased a storefront adjacent to the lobby and the entire second floor, while Spice Market holds down the 13th Street corner. Rents were not disclosed, but according to CoStar data, the owners have been asking $38 to $40 a foot for the upper floors. “They will have large, oversized rooms, and their members will stay there for days or weeks while working on their New York projects,” said Christopher Owles, the Sinvin broker who represented the building. Williamson Picket & Gross brokers James Gross and Wayne Sellers represented Soho House. Soho House founder Nick Jones, Chris Sade and a group of their film-buff friends developed their initial London club in 1995. It hosts ongoing film programs, art exhibitions and private parties that attract numerous A-list stars. The group also founded Soho House Cannes and turned Babington House, a Georgian estate in the London countryside, into a top resort and spa.