ANDREW H. WALKER/WWD
The Real Deal reports that Jeff Koons’s studio will be relocating to 620 West 52nd Street. The move to Hell’s Kitchen follows November’s news that Koons’s studio would be evicted from its current Chelsea address, at 601 West 29th Street, due to the property being re-leased to Douglaston Development.
Yes, gentrification even affects Koons, who was forced out of Chelsea and has now paid $5.5 million for the 25-foot-wide vacant garage space. (Koons bought the listing from Massey Knakal Realty Services for $500,000 over the asking price. This isn’t too much of a loss on Koons’s part, considering the strong seven-figure sums he regularly commands for his work. Sold by Brent Schlossberg and Thomas O’Connell, the space is 2,500 square feet. According to the listing, the space can accommodate 12,500 square feet of commercial space, as well as another 12,500 square feet if Koons buys the vacant lot next to it, at 622 West 52nd Street.
Combined, the two lots would give Koons’s studio 25,000 square feet, which should be enough for a few large, shiny, and very expensive objects.
In other news about artist’s real-estate holdings, Jennifer Bartlett is selling her Clinton Hill home and studio for $8.5 million.