Sweet Smell of SoHo

Toiletry importer Lafco NY Inc. has found a new SoHo storage space for its pricey perfumes. The company signed a 10-year lease for a 10,600-square-foot warehouse at 161 Sixth Ave., between Spring and Vandam streets.

Lafco will use the site to distribute cosmetics, candles and its key fragrance line, Santa Maria Novella, which was formulated 600 years ago in Florence. It operates two stores, in SoHo and Los Angeles, and sells products to department stores.

The warehouse space has nine-foot ceilings and few windows. Finding such a large storage site in SoHo took time. “Almost everything is converted to office space, and a lot of building owners don’t want any kind of industrial use anymore,” says Christopher Owles, a broker at Sinvin Realty Corp., which represented Lafco in the deal.

“When we found this rather unique space, we jumped on it,” says Jon Bresler, Lafco’s owner. He plans to move in immediately. Building owner Earle W. Kazis Associates Inc. negotiated the deal in-house. The asking rent was $20 a square foot.