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NEW YORK CITY-Martin Lawrence Galleries, a division of Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts Inc., purchased the 3,000 sf space it has been leasing for more than 20 years at 457 West Broadway. The retailer chose to purchase the co-op after the estate of its former owner, Vance Jordan, made the decision to sell. Jordan operated his own art gallery, Jordan-Volpe Gallery, in the space until leasing it to Martin Lawrence Galleries in 1986.

Christopher Owles, managing director of Sinvin Realty Corp., represented the buyer and seller. Martin Lawrence Galleries already owns a second commercial co-op on Wooster Street. Further details of the transaction were not available.

"For us, it made sense to purchase the space," says Eric Dannemann, president of Chalk & Vermilion Fine Arts Inc. "By doing so, we were able to fix our costs and secure our location in Soho where high rents have forced many other art galleries out." Martin Lawrence Galleries concurrently purchased the building they were renting for their San Francisco gallery at 366 Geary St. as part of the same strategy, bringing the number of company owned properties to six.