The former New York home of Marlborough Gallery, arguably the world’s pioneering mega-gallery before its collapse and closure in 2024, has found a new owner.
Gazelli Art House, which operates galleries in London and Baku, Azerbaijan, has purchased the former Marlborough space at 545 West 25th Street for $7.5 million. Brown Harris Stevens brokers Jeffrey Zoldan and Roger Gillen represented the seller.
The sale marks another chapter in the winding down of Marlborough’s legacy. After nearly eight decades in business, the gallery announced in April 2024 that it would cease representing artists, close its exhibition program and begin liquidating an inventory reportedly worth around $250 million, following years of financial losses and an acrimonious internal family dispute.
Located on the first and second floors of Chelsea Arts Tower, the 9,228-square-foot property was designed for exhibiting large-scale contemporary art. The turnkey space includes soaring 18-foot ceilings, a street-level garage door capable of accommodating works up to roughly 13 or 14 feet tall, rare curb-cut access for art handling, and a 1,250-square-foot private terrace on the second floor.
Visitors attend an opening in Marlborough’s Chelsea flagship gallery. Courtesy Marlborough Real Estate LLC.
The building, in the heart of Chelsea’s gallery district, is home to a number of commercial tenants and owners, including fashion designer Calvin Klein.
For Gazelli Art House, the acquisition expands its international footprint with a permanent base in the center of the art world. Founded in London in 2010 by Mila Askarova, the gallery has built a program spanning contemporary art and digital media while maintaining spaces in London and Baku.
The address also carries historical weight. Marlborough relocated its New York operations to Chelsea after decades in Midtown as part of a broader effort to consolidate the business. Those plans were later overtaken by corporate infighting, lawsuits among family members and executives, and declining finances that ultimately led the gallery to shutter after nearly 80 years.
