Last month, YIMBY reported on demolition applications for a squat little three-story commercial building at 542 West 22nd Street, where art gallery Hauser & Wirth plans to build its newest outpost. Now, the Zurich-based art seller has filed plans for its new five-story building between 10th and 11th Avenues.
The 95-foot-tall structure will host an office, bike parking and galleries on the first floor, a bookstore and another gallery on the second floor, a library, office and meeting room on the third floor, a workshop and offices on the fourth floor, and a final set of galleries on the top floor.
Overall, the project will span 31,158 square feet. Annabelle Selldorf is designing, but the Union Square-based architects haven’t yet released any renderings of the structure.
As small galleries are priced out of Chelsea, Hauser & Wirth has the resources to buy and develop its own building in the incredibly pricey area next to the High Line. The approach takes millions upfront, but now the firm will be able to stay in the neighborhood for decades. And even if business takes a downturn, the company can sublet the upper floors of its building to other artists, galleries or creative companies.
They already have space on East 69th Street in the Upper East Side and on West 18th Street, a few blocks south of here. The firm plans to move its West 18th Street operation up to the new West 22nd Street building.
H&W signed a 42-year lease on the 7,400-square-foot property for an undisclosed amount in January.
Update: The previously published lease amount has been removed, because reps for Hauser & Wirth tell us that the figure—pulled from public records—is incorrect.
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