Walk down Sixth Avenue between 18th and 19th Streets and you’ll see it. It’s massive. A literal city block of limestone and cast iron that screams Gilded Age ambition. For decades, most New Yorkers just knew 620 6th Ave NYC as "that big building with the Bed Bath & Beyond." But honestly, labeling this place by its retail tenants is like calling the Mona Lisa a "painting of a lady." It misses the point entirely.
The Siegel-Cooper Department Store building—its real name—was once the largest store in the world. It’s a 700,000-square-foot beast. Today, it’s a tech hub, a grocery destination, and a case study in how Manhattan real estate survives by constant, brutal evolution. If you're looking at this address for office space, a shopping trip, or just curious about why it looks like a palace, you've got to understand that 620 Sixth isn't just a building; it's a survivor of the "Ladies' Mile."
The Ghost of the Big Store
Back in 1896, when this place opened, it was a revolution. They called it "The Big Store." People didn't just shop here; they came for the spectacle. There was a giant brass fountain in the middle with a statue of "The Republic." It became such a cultural touchstone that "Meet me at the fountain" was a legitimate catchphrase for New Yorkers for twenty years.
But retail is fickle. It always has been. By 1917, Siegel-Cooper was gone. The building spent time as a military hospital during World War I. Then it became a warehouse. It spent decades as a somewhat gritty, underutilized relic of a bygone era before the 1990s retail boom breathed new life into it.
From Linens to Laptops
When big-box retail hit Manhattan in the 90s, 620 6th Ave NYC was the epicenter. Bed Bath & Beyond, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls moved in. It changed the neighborhood. Chelsea went from a semi-industrial fringe to a primary shopping destination.
But look at the upper floors. That’s where the real shift happened. RXR Realty, which owns the building, poured millions into making the top floors attractive to the "TAMI" sector—Technology, Advertising, Media, and Information. We’re talking about massive floor plates. In most Midtown towers, you’re lucky to get 20,000 square feet on one level. At 620 Sixth? You can get nearly 100,000 square feet. That kind of horizontal space is a unicorn in Manhattan. It allows for those sprawling, open-plan offices that tech companies crave, where engineers can roll their chairs across an entire city block without hitting a wall.
Who Is Actually Inside 620 6th Ave NYC Right Now?
It’s a weird mix. On the ground, you have the remnants of the retail era. TJ Maxx and Marshalls are still holding down the fort. But the flagship Bed Bath & Beyond is gone—a victim of the company’s 2023 bankruptcy. That space is a massive hole that defines the current transition of the building.
The upper floors are where the heavy hitters live.
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- Spotify: They took a massive chunk of space here years ago, though they’ve famously shifted toward a "work from anywhere" model.
- Ancestry.com: They have a significant footprint here.
- WeightWatchers (WW): Their headquarters is tucked inside these walls.
- Zillow: Another tech giant that realized the value of the Chelsea/Flatiron corridor.
The building serves as a bridge. It’s geographically positioned between the old-school finance world of Midtown and the "Silicon Alley" vibes of Union Square and Greenwich Village. It’s why companies like Netflix and Google keep sniffing around this specific area. The ceiling heights are huge. The windows are massive. It feels "authentic" in a way a glass tower on 42nd Street never will.
The Architecture That Refuses to Quit
You can't talk about 620 6th Ave NYC without mentioning the bones. It was designed by DeLemos & Cordes. Those are the same guys who did Macy’s Herald Square. It’s Neo-Classical, but on steroids.
The structure is built to hold an incredible amount of weight. Remember, this was a warehouse for a while. That structural integrity is why it’s so popular for modern tech firms. They can pack in servers, heavy communal kitchens, and hundreds of employees without worrying about floor loads. Plus, the light. Because it occupies a full block, the light hits from all four sides. In a dense city like New York, that’s a luxury that commands a premium price.
The Recent Transformation and the Post-Pandemic Reality
In 2020 and 2021, things got dicey. Like every other office building in the city, 620 Sixth went quiet. But RXR didn’t just sit on their hands. They leaned into the "hospitality" model of office management.
They’ve integrated apps for tenants to manage their day—everything from ordering food to booking meeting rooms. They’ve upgraded the lobby to feel less like a 19th-century fortress and more like a high-end hotel. The goal is simple: make the office better than your living room so you’ll actually come back to work.
The Retail Vacuum
The loss of Bed Bath & Beyond left a roughly 90,000-square-foot gap. That’s a lot of space to fill. There’s been constant speculation about what comes next. A Wegmans? A high-end fitness club? Another tech showroom?
The reality is that 620 6th Ave NYC is moving away from "cheap" retail. The neighborhood has priced out the bargain hunters. Look at what’s nearby. You have the Container Store, but you also have high-end furniture boutiques and Chelsea’s art galleries just a few blocks west. The next tenant for that ground floor will likely be something that caters to the high-income residents of the Flatiron District and the tech workers upstairs.
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Is 620 Sixth Avenue a Good Place to Work?
If you’re a fan of the "soul" of New York, yes.
It’s not perfect. The elevators can be a bit of a wait during peak hours because, well, the building is old and massive. The Sixth Avenue subway noise is a constant hum. But the perks? You’re steps away from Madison Square Park. You have Eataly around the corner. The commute is arguably the best in the city—you have the F, M, 1, 2, 3, R, and W trains all within a five-minute walk.
Honestly, the "vibe" of 620 6th Ave NYC is very much "Modern Professional." It’s for the person who wears Allbirds or loafers, not a pinstripe suit. It’s collaborative. It’s loud. It’s very New York.
Navigating the Building: A Practical Guide
If you're visiting for a meeting or just exploring the retail, here's the deal.
The main office entrance is separate from the retail chaos. It’s polished and secure. If you’re heading to TJ Maxx or Marshalls, prepare for a crowd. These are some of the busiest retail locations in the country.
For the photographers and architecture nerds: the best view of the building isn't from directly in front of it. Walk a block south and look back north. You can see the scale of the cornice and the way the building dominates the skyline of the Ladies' Mile Historic District.
What Most People Get Wrong About This Landmark
Most people think these old buildings are inefficient. They assume the heating is bad, the internet is slow, and the layout is clunky.
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That’s a myth.
Buildings like 620 6th Ave NYC are often "over-built." The walls are thicker, which actually helps with insulation and soundproofing. Because the floor plates are so large, tech companies can run fiber-optic cables and HVAC systems more easily than they could in a cramped 1970s skyscraper.
The misconception is that it’s a "relic." In reality, it’s a high-performance machine wrapped in a 130-year-old shell.
Actionable Insights for Stakeholders
If you are looking at 620 6th Ave NYC from a business or real estate perspective, here is the bottom line.
For Potential Office Tenants:
Don't just look at the rent per square foot. Look at the "density efficiency." Because the floors are so wide, you might actually need less total square footage than you would across three floors of a narrower building. You save on internal stairs and duplicated reception areas.
For Retail Enthusiasts:
Keep an eye on the former Bed Bath & Beyond footprint. Whatever moves in there will signal the next 10 years for Chelsea retail. If it’s a grocer, the neighborhood is leaning further into residential luxury. If it’s another tech flagship, it’s a corporate campus.
For Neighborhood Visitors:
Combine a trip here with a walk through the Chelsea 18th Street corridor. The transition from the massive scale of 6th Avenue to the brownstones and smaller shops of the side streets is one of the best urban experiences in Manhattan.
For Real Estate Investors:
Watch the "amenitization" of this building. RXR’s success here depends on their ability to keep the "Work From Home" crowd coming into the office. The tech stack they’ve implemented is the gold standard for how to manage heritage assets in the 2020s.
620 6th Ave NYC isn't going anywhere. It has survived the death of the department store, the rise of the internet, a global pandemic, and the bankruptcy of its biggest tenants. It remains a titan of the Chelsea skyline because it offers something that new glass boxes can't: a sense of place. Whether you’re there to buy a discounted rug or to code the next big app, you’re part of a 130-year-old tradition of New York commerce. That’s something worth stopping to look at next time you’re walking past the fountain that isn’t there anymore.