190 Bowery’s New Tenant Plans to Keep Iconic Graffiti on the Facade
Those who have been mourning the loss of 190 Bowery to the clutches of the rich can breathe a slight sigh of relief. Just a month after having some of its graffiti removed, the WSJ reports that the former Germania Bank—and former home of photographer Jay Maisel—has just inked its first lease. The tenant, “a company made up of agencies representing creative professionals in the industry of luxury and fashion image-making” has signed on for nearly 30,000 square feet and says that it will maintain all of the building’s historic touches, from “its marble wash basins to the graffiti covering the lower part of the facade.”
“We’re a very visual company and all the employees are very visual people,” said Matthew Moneypenny, the chief executive of the unnamed LLC at the center of the deal, to the WSJ. “Companies like ours tend to thrive in places that have a soul and a history.”
Equally interestingly are reports that Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty had plans to “keep much of the graffiti and was pleased to find a tenant that shared its appreciation of the building’s look and place in the neighborhood”—despite the fact that previous marketing materials showed the building polished clean.
Rosen purchased the 72-room property from Maisel last fall for $55 million. Maisel himself bought the building in the mid-’60s for $102,000.
[Via WSJ]
RELATED:
