Revlon Wants Out Of Union Square Leases As Part Of Bankruptcy

Cosmetics conglomerate Revlon is working to terminate its office and retail leases at 200 Park Ave. South in an attempt to save the firm millions in the wake of its bankruptcy filing in June.

The company leases nearly 46K SF at the ABS Partners-owned building for its Elizabeth Arden-branded spa and office space, according to Crain’s New York Business.

Revlon’s representatives told a judge the company doesn’t need the space — the spa is permanently closed and is being marketed as available — and the exit would save the company some $17M. It also argued it could pay less for comparable alternatives.

The cosmetics brand inherited the leases at 200 Park Ave. South when it acquired Elizabeth Arden, which it purchased in 2016 for $870M. The lease for the spa, which takes up 10K SF, expires next year. The office space spans 36K SF on floors six and seven, with a lease that runs until 2027, per Crain’s.

The company's corporate headquarters is at Brookfield-owned One New York Plaza in the Financial District, where it has more than 100K SF. It has not indicated it wants to break that lease, however. When it filed for Chapter 11 protection last month, the company said it was unable to fill around a third of customer requests for products because of supply chain issues.

The company had dodged bankruptcy in 2020 by convincing a sufficient number of bondholders to extend its debt, per the Guardian. But at the time of the filing last month, it had $3.3B in debt. It received $375M in order to restructure the business.