In need of room to grow, Grace’s Marketplace, the popular Upper East Side gourmet food market owned and operated by the Doria Family, will soon be moving to a new location just a few blocks from where it has been serving customers for nearly three decades.
The market has signed a 15-year, 13,125-square-foot lease at the Rudin Family’s signature residential tower, 215 East 68th Street, for its new Lenox Hill store.
The food retailer, which has been located in a 7,000-square-foot space at 1237 3rd Avenue, between 71st and 72nd Streets, expects to open its new facility in summer of 2014. In all, Grace’s Marketplace will occupy 7,742 square feet on the ground floor and 5,383 square feet on the building’s lower level.
According to Michael Rudin, Vice President of Rudin Management, the leasing transaction follows a recent building-wide, $90 million+ renovation project, including a brand new façade using an energy-efficient terra cotta rain screen; a new tenant gym and children’s play room; new landscaping, gardens, and driveway; and a new lobby, which is currently being designed.
“With our beautiful new façade and expanded services and amenities at 215 East 68th Street, we’re proud to welcome Grace’s Marketplace to our building,” Rudin says. “It seems fitting that the property has an exciting new look as it welcomes one of the neighborhood’s most beloved retail institutions to its premises. This new location will allow Grace’s Marketplace the physical room to grow while maintaining their presence on the Upper East Side.”
Grace Balducci Doria, who co-founded Grace’s Marketplace with her beloved, late husband, Joe Doria, commented: “It has been an honor and privilege to serve our cherished customers of the Upper East Side for so many years. It’s been with much excitement and pride that we bring our history and passion to a bigger and better Grace’s Marketplace. My family and I have full faith in the Rudin’s that this is the perfect stepping stone for the re-birth of Grace’s Marketplace.”
Michael Rudin, Vice President of Rudin Management, along with Michael Gleicher, a director at Winick Realty Group LLC and exclusive broker for the space, represented Rudin Management in the transaction. David Kevelson of the Manhattes Group LLC, represented Grace’s Marketplace. Asking rents were $200 per square foot.
