Gagosian Grows New York Empire, Taking Over Former Mary Boone and Pace Gallery Spaces in Chelsea -ARTnews

West 24th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues in Manhattan is generally considered the beating heart of the Chelsea art district—the most prestigious block in a prestige-fueled industry, with Gagosian, Lisson, Gladstone Gallery, Luhring Augustine, Jack Shainman, Matthew Marks, and Metro Pictures all calling it home. Now there is about to be big change along that stretch, with Gagosian significantly expanding its already enormous West 24th Street location.

Bloomberg’s Katya Kazakina reports that Gagosian will grow its 26,000-square-foot West 24th Street space to include the former sites of Mary Boone Gallery and Pace Gallery, which are adjacent to it.

Boone shuttered earlier this year after its founder went to jail for falsifying her tax returns, and the Pace outpost will be vacant come September amid a move to a new eight-floor flagship space one block north. The new Gagosian location is reportedly a long-term lease. A gallery spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Gagosian currently occupies around 178,000 square feet worldwide, with five spaces in New York alone. In recent years, the gallery has rapidly expanded its empire, and in just the past six months has added an outpost in Basel, Switzerland, an advisory firm headed up by Laura Paulson, and artists such as Theaster Gates and Nathaniel Mary Quinn to its roster. Earlier this year, ARTnews also reported that Gagosian has plans to open another Los Angeles space that includes 9,500 square feet and a restaurant run by Evan Funke.

The mega-gallery, which acquired its 24th Street spot in 1999, is not the only enterprise to significantly enlarge its footprint in Chelsea recently. As part of a planned consolidation effort that will involve the closure of its Midtown space, Marlborough Gallery will add 6,500 square feet to its current home on West 25th Street, which the gallery has termed its flagship space. Hauser & Wirth is currently erecting a new 36,000-square-foot space on West 22nd Street, and David Zwirner is at work on a Renzo Piano–designed tower on West 21st Street.

The Gagosian news comes one day after ARTnews reported that Yares Art would take over Boone’s Midtown Manhattan space, on Fifth Avenue.