Hit New York bagel shop chain Liberty Bagels has made its first real estate purchase since its start 30 years ago.
Liberty Bagels acquired 5 E. 47th St. just east of Fifth Avenue for $9.4 million, Resolution Real Estate, representing the owner of Liberty Bagels, said Tuesday in a statement. Resolution said Liberty Bagels plans to occupy about 50% of the seven-story vacant property, which spans 18,500 square feet and was built in 1920.
Liberty Bagels plans to use the space for its corporate and catering division offices across several floors, while it has been building out the first-floor retail and basement levels for a new Liberty Bagels shop, set to open Saturday. The property, previously owned by Walter & Samuels, also comes with 16,095 square feet of air rights, Resolution said.
Walter & Samuels bought the property in 2015 for $18.3 million, according to CoStar data.
“This was an excellent opportunity for [Liberty Bagels] at a great price in today’s market,” Jonata Dayan, Resolution’s executive vice president of commercial co-op and condo sales, said in the statement, adding that the building was renovated with a new elevator and that the floor plates are all column free.
Liberty Bagels, founded in 1995, is known for old-fashioned hand-rolled, kettle-boiled, New York-style bagels, with creative varieties such as a French toast bagel as well as a wide variety of cream cheese flavors such as jalapeño, honey bacon sriracha and Oreo. A Resolution spokeswoman told CoStar News the purchase marked Liberty Bagels' first foray into owning property.
This will be the chain's sixth location, with four others in Manhattan and one in Queens, according to its website. It's seeking franchise partners for additional openings.
The expansion comes as some of New York's oldest and most beloved bagel shops as well as viral upstarts such as PopUp Bagels are also spreading their footprints across the city and beyond to meet growing appetite. For instance, in metropolitan New York, according to crowd-sourced review provider Yelp, there were 128 new bagel shop listings from October 2024 to September — a 20% increase from the prior year. Nationwide, new listings rose 11% to 711 during the same period, Yelp said.
Liberty Bagels’ deal also adds to the growing trend of retail brands buying the real estate that houses their stores. For instance, Japanese clothing chain Uniqlo and luxury labels Prada and Gucci parent Kering have all bought nearby Fifth Avenue properties housing their shops. Swedish furniture chain Ikea, meanwhile, has acquired a SoHo property.
For the record
Walter & Samuels was represented by David Schechtman, senior executive managing director, Abie Kassin, managing director, and Lipa Lieberman, managing director, of Meridian Investment Sales, a division of Meridian Capital Group.
Jonata Dayan, executive vice president of commercial co-op and condo sales at Resolution Real Estate, and Jeffrey Zund, executive director and head of leasing, represented the owner of Liberty Bagels.