Is Jeff Koons Building a Massive Studio in Hell’s Kitchen?

The artist was evicted from his former studio in Chelsea last year.

Jeff Koons.
Photo: Courtesy www.phaidon.com.
koons-venus-artist

Jeff Koons.
Photo:  Courtesy of Daniel Roland / AFP / Getty Images.

When it comes to Jeff Koons, bigger is better.

In addition to his artwork, supersizing is a practice he evidently exercises in his real estate buying habits. Koons just snagged the third in a series of adjacent properties in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, and a massive studio may be in the works for the artist, according to the Real Deal.

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Google Maps view of 624 W. 52nd Street.
Photo: via Google Maps Street View.

Koons reportedly purchased the site on 624 West 52nd Street from Celtic Realty LLC for $12.7 million. Together, with the adjacent properties on 620 and 622 West 52nd Street which he purchased earlier this year, the three lots yield him a total of 50,200 square feet of space.

Though plans to potentially combine the sites haven’t been filed with the city’s Department of Buildings, the three spaces would be a massive upgrade from his previous 10,000 square foot studio space. At present, some 128 people are employed in Koons’s studio.

His moves follow speculation that the artist was evicted from his former studio in Chelsea. Vulture reported in 2014 that the family who owned the building where Koons set up shop leased their property to Douglaston Development.

Jeff Koons in his studio. Photo: Courtesy www.pbs.org.

Jeff Koons in his studio.
Photo: via www.pbs.org.

artnet News reached out to Koons’s studio for comment but has not yet received a response.

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