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Newmark has been retained as the exclusive office leasing agent for 130 Mercer Street, also known as the Scholastic Building, in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. The assignment comes from the property’s new owner, Empire State Realty Trust (ESRT), which acquired the asset through a sale-leaseback transaction completed in late 2025.
The building, located at 130 Mercer and also identified as 555-557 Broadway, is a well-known SoHo property associated with Scholastic. Following ESRT’s purchase, Newmark has been engaged to lead the effort to lease the office space at the property, focusing on attracting and retaining tenants suited to the SoHo submarket.
Newmark’s team on the assignment includes David Falk, president of the New York Tri-State region, vice chairman Peter Shimkin, executive managing director Daniel Levine and director Dylan Weisman. This group will be responsible for marketing the available office space, negotiating lease terms and advising ESRT on positioning the asset within the competitive Lower Manhattan office landscape.
The sale-leaseback structure under which ESRT acquired 130 Mercer indicates that the seller, which is not identified in the available information, agreed to lease back space in the building at the time of sale. ESRT’s engagement of Newmark as exclusive leasing agent suggests a focus on both stabilizing and enhancing the property’s tenancy over time.
While specific lease-up targets, current occupancy levels, square footage details and tenant rosters were not disclosed, the appointment of a dedicated leasing team underscores ESRT’s intent to actively manage and reposition the office component of the Scholastic Building. The SoHo location, with its mix of creative, media and technology users, may influence the tenant profile Newmark pursues as it brings additional office space to market.
Empire State Realty Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and operates office and retail properties, primarily in Manhattan and the greater New York metropolitan area. Newmark is a global commercial real estate services firm providing leasing, capital markets and advisory services to owners, occupiers and investors.
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