Former Soho REI Leased to Gentle Monster
One of New York’s most recognizable retail locations has a new tenant.
The Soho space that REI occupied for a decade and a half is changing hands. South Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster will be taking 28,500 square feet across three levels in New York’s Puck Building at 295 Lafayette Street, according to sources close to the transaction.
The building is owned by Kushner Companies.
Cornelia Street Partners’ brokers Lenny Kohlmayer and Evan Kleinberg represented Gentle Monster, while RIPCO’s Richard Skulnik and Lindsay Zegans represented the landlord. Details of the deal, including rent and lease length, were not disclosed. The brokers declined to comment.
Gentle Monster is owned by South Korean conglomerate IICOMBINED. The brand sells glasses and sunglasses, starting at around $225. The company recently collaborated with Prada on an eyewear collection. It debuted a revamp of its current New York flagship, located elsewhere in Soho on 70 Wooster Street, in September, with a kinetic art installation, according to Hypebeast. It’s unclear if the brand is moving its flagship to this new space or will operate both locations.
REI operated its New York flagship in the Lafayette Street space from 2011 to 2026. The store permanently closed in July without explanation. Store staff voted to form a union in 2022, although a contract agreement was never reached. REI denied allegations that the store closed due to the unionization effort.
The Puck Building, the red-bricked nine-story property at the corner of Lafayette and East Houston, is also home to office tenants. OpenAI, the firm best known for ChatGPT, leased 90,000 square feet in the building in 2024. Investment firms Thrive Capital and Quadrature also lease office space in the building.
The building was originally constructed in 1895. After construction it served as the home of satirical magazine Puck.
New York’s retail vacancy rate, at least in major corridors, is at a historic low. Soho’s vacancy rate on Broadway was 9 percent in the second quarter of 2026, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Average asking rent in the corridor, which is two blocks west of the Puck Building, was $393 per square foot.
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