Flatiron is getting a new place to sit and stay awhile. Cozey, the Montreal-born direct-to-consumer furniture brand known for modular sofas, has signed a 10-year lease for roughly 10,150 square feet at 160 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, locking in its first permanent U.S. store. The long-term deal puts Cozey in a street-level showroom with additional space below in the nine-story R.H. Robertson building that once housed Club Monaco and Ralph’s Coffee, another sign that Flatiron is doubling down as New York’s home-and-design retail hub.
Deal details
The lease covers 10,146 square feet in total, split into about 5,372 square feet on the ground floor and 4,774 square feet on the lower level, and runs for 10 years, according to CoStar. The planned flagship is set up as a showroom-style space where shoppers can try out and customize Cozey’s modular sofas and other pieces before committing. JLL’s Matthew Schuss represented Cozey in the deal, while RFR Holding owns the Fifth Avenue property.
Broker notes and rent
Industry coverage reports that JLL and Retail by MONA teamed up to arrange the transaction, with Retail by MONA’s Brandon L. Singer and colleagues handling the assignment for RFR, as detailed by the Commercial Observer. That reporting also pegs the asking rent at about $400 per square foot and points to the building’s high ceilings and more than 50 feet of frontage as key selling points. Brokers said the Flatiron corridor checked Cozey’s boxes for both heavy foot traffic and the kind of customer profile the brand is chasing.
A larger U.S. push
Cozey has been using short-term shops to test the waters in new markets and is now building out a more permanent brick-and-mortar footprint. A company profile notes that it is planning a permanent New York store for early 2027, according to Modern Retail. The brand has already run New York City pop-ups in 2024 and 2025 and recently opened a Venice Beach location as part of a wider North American rollout. Founder Frédéric Aubé has emphasized that physical showrooms are crucial for the business because furniture shopping still largely hinges on being able to sit, touch and test pieces in person.
Why Flatiron
“Cozey’s entry into the U.S. market marks an exciting milestone as digitally native brands continue to establish a physical presence in New York City,” JLL’s Matthew Schuss said in a statement, as reported by Connect CRE. Brokers told local outlets that Cozey’s six-month Flatiron pop-up performed particularly well, giving the company real-world proof that the neighborhood could support a full-time flagship and helping tip the decision toward a long-term Fifth Avenue address.
What It Means For The Block
The Flatiron NoMad business improvement district’s market reports show the area has been actively positioning itself as a hub for home, design and experiential retail, attracting first-in-market concepts and destination flagships, according to the Flatiron NoMad market report. A showroom-format arrival like Cozey is expected to further cluster home-furnishings options for nearby residents, office workers and design-focused shoppers who already treat the district as a furnishings corridor.
No official opening date has been announced, but company comments and industry coverage point to early 2027 as a realistic timeline for a permanent New York flagship, per Modern Retail. For now, the 160 Fifth Avenue lease stands as a sizable bet on Flatiron’s growing pull with home-focused retailers and experiential showroom concepts.
