At the time, WeWork was one of the world's highest-valued startups (peaking at $47 billion) and was aggressively expanding its physical footprint.

The purchase was widely viewed as a symbolic "passing of the torch" from traditional brick-and-mortar retail to the modern, tech-driven coworking economy.

WeWork intended to use the 676,000-square-foot space as its global headquarters and for additional shared office space.

Lord & Taylor, the oldest department store chain in the U.S., was struggling with the rise of e-commerce.