Martha Stewart's S.F. Headache

Gina Hyams

Is there no relief in sight for Martha Stewart? On top of the insider-trading charges she faces from the ImClone stock scandal, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSO) has been paying rent for two years on the unoccupied 5,000-square-foot retail space at 120 Maiden Lane that was to house the domestic doyenne's first U.S. shop (a project since abandoned). Stuck with a 15-year lease, inherited in 2001 when MSO acquired the Wedding List, a gift business, the company has been anxious to unload the property by subletting it at a reported rate of $325,000 per year, plus a one-time "key money" payment of $250,000 to cover improvements made to the site. But for two years, it has had no takers, and while retail-space rents remain high in the Union Square area, easy sublease profit from key money is now a boom-era pipe dream. Sources say MSO is so motivated to sublet the space, it'll consider any reasonable offer. Negotiations on a deal are under way.