Upper East Side Townhouse, Hirschl & Adler Home for 33 Years, for Sale
Hirschl & Adler Galleries. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
More real estate drama has arrived on the doorsteps of East 70th Street.
A landmark limestone Upper East Side townhouse, home to Hirschl & Adler Galleries for 33 years, will go on the market. “The building is for sale,” said owner Felicie Balay, in an interview with Art Market Views. “We haven’t discussed price yet, but we will make it fair.”
Balay said she is meeting with her broker, Jed Garfield of Leslie J. Garfield & Co. later this week. The 22-foot wide townhouse at 21 East 70th Street, just off Madison Avenue and flanked by art gallery Knoedler & Co. and velour leisure suit purveyor Juicy Couture, will be listed within a week.
Hirschl and Adler’s lease has been extended until the end of October, said Balay. UPDATE: The gallery will be moving to new quarters in the late fall, according to gallery director Elizabeth Feld. Hirschl, which sells American and European fine and decorative art, has occupied the building as a tenant since 1977. A rendering of the building is incorporated as part of the gallery’s logo. Works by Marguerite Zorach, Dorothea Tanning and Clarence Holbrook Carter hung on the first floor when I visited the gallery this afternoon. Stuart Feld has been president of Hirschl since 1981.
The building is not the lone manse up for grabs on the block. As reported previously on Art Market Views, Knoedler & Co. next door is listed for sale with Sotheby’s Realty. The property is tagged $49.9 million, down from the $59.5 million it was originally listed at in December 2009.
The Hirschl building was once home to Knoedler. In 1970 Knoedler moved to 21 East 70th Street, under gallery president Roland Balay. The following year Armand Hammer bought Knoedler, but not the building. A few years later, Hammer bought 19 East 70 next door and joined the two buildings together for exhibition space, renting the space from Balay.
In 1977 Knoedler sublet one of the buildings to Hirschl and Adler, according to Felicie Balay, widow of Roland Balay.
The Hirschl building is owned by 21 East 70th Street LLC, which is owned by Felicie Balay and Roland Balay’s two children from an earlier marriage.
21 East 70th Street, second building from the right, with brown awning. © Photo: Lindsay Pollock
Your article was most interesting, but I do want to correct one small item. My father, Norman Hirschl, founded the gallery in 1952 and instrumental in moving it from 270 Park Avenue to 21 East 67th Street. It was at that time that the logo of the townhouse was incorporated into the name. While 21 East 67th Street and 21 East 70th Street are similar, a closer look will show that the windows on the second floor at 21 East 70th Street have a rounded top, while all the windows on 67th Street are squared off.
The logo has stood them in good stead for well over 50 years, I for one hope they do not decide to change it because of this current move. There is much to be said for history.
Sincerely,
Elaine Hirschl Ellis