Newmark is stepping into one of SoHo’s most recognizable office addresses, taking over as exclusive leasing agent for 130 Mercer Street, the longtime Scholastic building that recently changed hands. The move follows Empire State Realty Trust’s purchase of the property in a sale‑leaseback deal, with Scholastic staying put at its headquarters under a long‑term lease. The assignment drops a rare prize into the market: three contiguous office floors totaling roughly 112,600 square feet in one of Manhattan’s most coveted neighborhoods.
Building upgrades and big floor plates
The property weighs in at about 396,000 square feet of office and retail space and has already been through a serious refresh, according to Empire State Realty Trust. The building now features a 290‑person town hall area, upgraded lobbies, a rooftop terrace and a gym that is on the way. Empire State Realty Trust reports more than $115 million in completed capital improvements, with additional upgrades scheduled through 2030.
For tenants, the real hook is the size of the floor plates. Each office floor runs about 37,000 square feet, giving large users the kind of contiguous space that is increasingly tough to find in a character neighborhood like SoHo.
SoHo market momentum
Despite the upgrades, 130 Mercer is not fully humming yet. The building’s vacancy rate hovers around 65 percent, compared with roughly 15 percent for the broader SoHo office submarket. Even so, the neighborhood itself has been on a roll. As reported by CoStar, SoHo logged 264,000 square feet of positive net absorption in 2025 and a record 1.2 million square feet of new leasing activity last year, a clear sign that tenants are circling well‑located downtown space again.
Newmark’s team and pitch
Newmark is putting a dedicated squad on the assignment, led by David Falk with team members Peter Shimkin, Daniel Levine and Dylan Weisman. The group is positioning 130 Mercer as a turnkey option for tenants that want both scale and amenities in SoHo.
“The building’s amenities will speak directly to what today’s users prioritize,” Falk said in the announcement, according to CoStar.
Why the buy matters
Empire State Realty Trust said it paid $386 million for the Scholastic building in December 2025, framing the deal as part of a push to further concentrate its holdings in New York City assets, according to an investor release from Empire State Realty Trust.
Scholastic, for its part, confirmed the sale‑leaseback and said the proceeds will go toward debt reduction and other capital priorities, per a company statement published by Scholastic. The structure lets the publisher stay anchored in its longtime SoHo home while handing day‑to‑day leasing decisions to its new landlord and Newmark.
What’s available now
On the leasing side, the current opportunity centers on the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors, which are being offered as full‑floor blocks of about 37,000 square feet each. Together, they make up the roughly 112,600‑square‑foot contiguous stack now in play.
Listings from broker and ownership sources show that tours are underway and the space is being marketed to tenants in need of large, amenitized SoHo floor plates, according to Noah & Co.
