According to SAI, Apple is buying some more commercial real estate space in Manhattan.  This is commercial space, not retail space.  The purchase will be in the realm of 10,000 to 15,000 square feet and will be in the midtown area near the 5th Avenue flagship store, according to the article.  

Apple currently has about 10,000 square feet of commercial space in the Citigroup building in Manhattan, which is the most expensive piece of real estate that they rent.  The space is used for sales teams and systems engineers to meet with clients and congregate...among other mundane corporate work.

So what is Apple doing with the new space?  Most likely they are just looking for better digs at better prices.  Perhaps something that would be more inviting to prospective enterprise customers?

Apple also uses the SoHo store downtown for some corporate training and events.