Barneys and 17th Street: 'It Wasn't Over...It Still Isn't Over'

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Last December, Barneys announced that after decamping to Madison Avenue 20 years ago, the department store was ready to reopen a branch in its original 17th Street location by 2017. The only caveat: the downtown store would be about half the size of that first flagship. Barneys had no trouble locking down the space that was once the original men's section—that was owned by Loehmann's, which was in the process of shuttering all of its stores anyway. But the former women's department now belonged to the Rubin Museum of Art—and, as of nine months ago, they weren't budging.

Well it looks like plans have changed! The Rubin Museum has just agreed to sell its 45,000-square-foot building for $60 million to Ashkenazy Acquisitions—the same real estate firm that owns Barneys' Madison Avenue property, the New York Post reports. So Barneys already has an in, if they want to bid. Imagine: Barneys and 17th Street, reunited at last.
· Barney's Homesick for 17th Street Locale [New York Post]