Sotheby’s has sold its longtime New York headquarters at 1334 York Avenue to Weill Cornell Medicine, the auction house confirmed in a note to staff this week.
The move marks the latest step in a real estate overhaul that includes its 2023 acquisition of the Breuer Building, the Whitney Museum’s former home on Madison Avenue, and Gantry Point, a new 240,000-square-foot complex in Long Island City.
In the internal message, shared with ARTnews, Sotheby’s CEO Charles Stewart called the sale “the logical and final step in our New York real estate transformation.” He said the auction house would lease back floors 7–10 of the York Avenue building “under a long-term lease,” ensuring “minimum disruption” for staff.
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“When you consider this space plus the Breuer and Gantry Point, we will have more space than when we were entirely based at York,” Stewart wrote, adding that proceeds from the deal will be used to reduce debt and invest further in Sotheby’s core business.
The sale to Weill Cornell follows a lease agreement with the medical school signed in 2023 covering roughly 200,000 square feet across five floors. Weill Cornell has already taken possession of the fifth and sixth floors and plans to open a research facility on the site. Federal funding freezes have slowed some of the university’s broader research programs, but Weill Cornell confirmed to ARTnews this summer that “development plans at 1334 York are in progress and ongoing.”
Sotheby’s has occupied the York Avenue building since 1980. It sold the building in 2003 to cover debts related to a price-fixing scandal, but repurchased it in 2009 for $370 million. In 2019, after telecom billionaire Patrick Drahi acquired Sotheby’s for $3.7 billion, the company transferred ownership of the building to a holding company set up by Drahi. By late 2023, Sotheby’s had already announced plans to relinquish half its space at York Avenue to Weill Cornell as part of its relocation strategy.
The auction house will relocate its global headquarters to the Breuer Building at 945 Madison Avenue, opening November 8 with a what it is calling a “blockbuster” exhibition of modern and contemporary art. Renovated by Herzog & de Meuron, in partnership with PBDW Architects, the landmark space will include reimagined salesrooms, free public galleries, and a new fine-dining restaurant. Exhibitions at York Avenue will continue through mid-November, per Stewart’s note, creating a brief overlap during the transition.