An aerial view of the southern part of the Chelsea neighborhood and the High Line in New York City, featuring the Whitney Museum of American Art at right and the Standard Hotel at left.Photo C. Taylor Crothers/Getty Images

Chelsea Building Housing Two Art Galleries Will Go to Auction, But the Dealers Plan to Stay Put

by · ARTnews

The Spears Building, at 525 West 22nd Street, in the heart of the Chelsea gallery district on Manhattan’s West Side, will head to the auction block next week, reports Crain’s New York Business.

U.S. Bank Trust Company foreclosed on the six-story building last year after Chelsea Warehouse Associates, which owns the building, allegedly defaulted on a $14.2 million loan, leading to a $14.9 million judgment, notes Crain’s. Law firm Cole Schotz, which represents the defendants, did not immediately answer a request for comment via email.

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The building, sited between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, is on the same block as numerous galleries, such as Hauser & Wirth, Matthew Marks, and Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, as well as the Dia Art Foundation.

The 100,000-square-foot building houses the galleries Miles McEnery, who has been a tenant for nearly two decades, and Yancey Richardson, who has been in the space for 15 years. Both dealers tell ARTnews that they have leases in place and that they don’t anticipate being affected by any change in ownership.

“We have a really good lease,” Richardson said in a phone interview. “I love my building and I love my neighbors, and I’ve been an easy tenant for the building. I renewed my lease for another 10 years a couple of years ago.”

The gallery has just opened shows of Manuel Álvarez Bravo and Tania Franco Klein. “I don’t have any intention of going anywhere and I don’t think there’s going to be a disruption,” she added.

Reached by email, McEnery was equally sanguine. “We have been very happy tenants for nearly twenty years and have always fulfilled our financial obligations,” he said. “We have a lease in place and have invested considerably in our spaces over the years. If we find ourselves with a new landlord, we look forward to meeting the new owners and continuing to be good tenants for decades to come.

He added, “So, from our perspective, it is very much business as usual, and we remain happily focused on the gallery, our artists, and the season ahead.”