Gentle Monster Takes 28,500 SF in Kushner's Puck Building

Eyewear brand Gentle Monster is reported to be taking about 28,500 square feet across three levels of Kushner Companies’ Puck Building at 295 Lafayette Street, much of the former REI flagship that closed in July, according to The Real Deal. Rent and term were not disclosed.

Why it matters

For brokers, this refills one of SoHo’s largest single-tenant boxes with a destination retailer rather than a discount user. For lenders and owners, the interesting question is the debt behind the space. The Real Deal’s report rests on unnamed sources, so treat the lease as reported, not recorded.

The numbers

City Register records for Manhattan block 510 lot 1 show the building’s latest mortgage package dates to December 2019: a $20,000,000 mortgage and a $105,000,000 amended, restated and consolidated mortgage from ROC-Lafayette Associates, LLC to First Republic Bank, recorded December 24, 2019. See the consolidated mortgage record.

Two assignments, dated December 21, 2023, were recorded January 10, 2024. Assignments typically move a loan to a new holder. We did not pull the assignee, so who holds the debt today is unconfirmed. The public mirror we queried does not yet cover the most recent weeks, so a newer filing could exist.

On the leasing side, 28,500 square feet is the reported footprint, roughly 70 percent of the 39,500 square feet a RIPCO listing showed as available across ground, lower and sub-lower levels.

What’s next

Watch the City Register for a lease memorandum or new financing tied to the space, and for Department of Buildings filings for the retail fit-out. Until then, no rent, term or build cost is on the record. For more deals in the borough, see our New York coverage.