Tuesday (3/26) on the New York Times City Room blog, James Barron writes, “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. … 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. The company still makes pianos in Astoria, Queens, as it has for more than 100 years, and in Hamburg, Germany.”
Posted March 29, 2013
