Steinway to Sell Its Famed Showroom Building

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times The Steinway showroom could remain in Steinway Hall for 18 months under an agreement for the building’s sale.

Steinway Hall, the 88-year-old building down the block and across the street from Carnegie Hall where generations of famous and not-so-famous pianists have tried out pianos, is being sold, the piano company and the buyer said on Tuesday.

Steinway said it was selling the building for $46 million. But the total price of the deal could not be determined because the land, which Steinway sold some years ago, is being acquired by the buyer in a separate transaction. The buyer would not disclose the price.

Steinway said that under the terms of the deal, it could remain there for up to 18 months. It has a high-ceilinged showroom for retail customers on the first floor, practice rooms on the second floor and a legendary room in the basement for its fleet of concert pianos for professional pianists. A sheet-music store that has occupied part of the second floor will close next week.

Michael Sweeney, the chairman and chief executive of Steinway Musical Instruments, said the company was just beginning to think about where it would go after the deal closes.

“It’s more likely than not that we will have a downtown retail location as well as Midtown,” Mr. Sweeney said, adding that the operation for professional pianists might not be in the same place but would remain “convenient” to Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times The Steinway building at 111 West 57th Street in Manhattan.

The company still makes pianos in Astoria, Queens, as it has for more than 100 years, and in Hamburg, Germany.

The buyer is an investment group that is a joint venture of JDS Development Group, the Property Markets Group and Atlantic Partners, according to Michael Stern, the managing partner of JDS Development.

He said the new owner did not intend to tear down Steinway Hall, which was designed by Warren & Wetmore, the same firm that is known for its work on Grand Central Terminal. As for what will happen to Steinway Hall, Mr. Stern said, “We’re not sure yet. We haven’t determined what our plans are for the property.”

JDS Development controls the vacant site just east of Steinway Hall and is ready to break ground on a tower there, he said.

Steinway said that the buyer had put down a $5.6 million deposit and that Steinway expected to end up with $43 million in cash after the deal closed. Mr. Sweeney said the terms were more favorable than the terms under discussion when the company said last fall that it was negotiating the sale of the building. At that time, Steinway said its share of the sale would total $56 million but that $20 million would be put in escrow for as long as Steinway remained in the building.

Under the deal announced on Tuesday, Steinway can continue to use its showroom and other space in the building rent-free for 14 months after the deal closes. Steinway could stay for an additional four months at an agreed-upon rent that was not disclosed.