Whole Foods Signs 15-Year Lease for Daily Shop in Murray Hill

• Whole Foods Market signed a 15-year lease for 9,000 square feet at 509 Third Avenue in Murray Hill, Manhattan.
• The store will occupy ground-floor space and outdoor terraces at The Murray, a 35-story, 229-unit apartment tower.
• The location will use Whole Foods' Daily Shop format, focused on grab-and-go meals, fresh produce, meat, bakery items and local specialty foods.
• Kahen Properties and Lalezarian Properties developed the residential tower, with Majid Kahen signing the lease memorandum for the landlord.

What Whole Foods Is Opening in Murray Hill

Whole Foods Market is bringing its smaller Daily Shop format to Murray Hill with a new location at 509 Third Avenue. The grocery retailer signed a 15-year lease covering 9,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and outdoor terraces. The lease was recorded in New York City property records. The store will be located within The Murray, a 35-story apartment tower with 229 residential units developed by Kahen Properties and Lalezarian Properties. Whole Foods confirmed the lease but did not disclose additional details about the store's opening date or construction plans.

What The Daily Shop Format Offers

The Murray Hill location will follow Whole Foods' Daily Shop concept, a smaller-format store designed around quick urban shopping trips. The stores typically offer grab-and-go meals, fresh produce, meat, bakery products and locally sourced specialty foods. The format first launched in New York City's Lenox Hill neighborhood in 2024 before expanding into additional markets. Whole Foods has since announced Daily Shop locations in Brooklyn and Hoboken, New Jersey, and recently signed a separate lease for an 8,121-square-foot Daily Shop at 1524 Second Avenue on the Upper East Side.

What The Lease Means for 509 Third Avenue

The new Whole Foods will add a recognizable grocery tenant to the ground-floor retail component of The Murray. The location gives the retailer access to residents of the building as well as nearby Murray Hill residents, office workers and pedestrians. The outdoor terrace component also gives the store additional space beyond its interior footprint. The 9,000-square-foot footprint is considerably smaller than a traditional Whole Foods, reflecting the company's broader push into smaller urban formats.

What The Development Team Is Bringing to the Property

The Murray was developed by Kahen Properties and Lalezarian Properties. Majid Kahen, of Kahen Properties, signed the lease memorandum on behalf of the landlord. Paul Hilliard, vice president of real estate at Whole Foods, signed for the retailer. The lease memorandum did not disclose the asking rent, and it was not clear whether either party used an outside brokerage.

What The Retail Market Looks Like

The Whole Foods lease comes as retailers continue to target high-density Manhattan neighborhoods with smaller store formats. Whole Foods' Daily Shop model allows the company to enter locations where a traditional supermarket footprint may be difficult to accommodate. The smaller stores emphasize convenience and everyday shopping rather than the broader selection associated with larger Whole Foods locations. For Murray Hill, the new store adds another grocery option within a residential building while bringing an established national retailer to the Third Avenue corridor.