Emerging Vision USA to put headquarters in Manhattan

A subsidiary of Garden City-based Emerging Vision Inc. has agreed to a long-term lease of Manhattan office space, the company said in Securities and Exchange Commission documents made public Wednesday.

Emerging Visions runs several retail chains including Sterling Optical and Site for Sore Eyes.

The subsidiary, Emerging Vision USA Inc., leased 23rd-floor office space at 520 Eighth Ave. for 10 years at a rate of $135,000 a year for the first two years, then increasing 2.3 percent a year.

The office, just north of Penn Station, will become the subsidiary's corporate headquarters.

Emerging Vision Inc. is a publicly traded, diversified holding company with interests in franchising, specialty retail, group purchasing organizations, health care, financial services; and it is developing a new business in nutritional supplements targeted to certain eye diseases.

Emerging Vision runs more than 150 franchised and company-owned retail shops in 20 states, Canada and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and operates a specialized health maintenance organization in California. It also operates Combine Optical, a purchasing group that provides discounted optical products for resale by independent shops.