Hermès inked a major lease at Olayan Group’s 550 Madison Avenue.
The French design brand signed a three-floor, 71,757-square-foot lease at the newly redesigned Midtown building. The space will become the new U.S. headquarters for Hermès, which is moving from 55 East 59th Street.
Hermès is the latest high-profile company to lease at 550 Madison Avenue. In November 2021, insurance firm Chubb signed a deal for 240,000 square feet, taking 10 floors of the 800,000-square-foot office building.
Olayan Group, recently went through a major redesign of the property, doubling its public open space and adding greenery. The lobby opened to the public earlier this year. The rest of the building is expected to open this year. RXR is an adviser on the overhaul.
Luxury publisher Assouline curated a library in the office tower as an exclusive amenity for tenants on the club level. The building was designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee.
The office tower at 550 Madison Avenue opened in 1984, but only had two tenants, AT&T and Sony, until Olayan Group acquired the building in 2016 for $1.3 billion from the Chetrit Group.
Chetrit and David Bistricer’s Clipper Equity purchased the property, then known as the Sony Building, from Sony for $1.1 billion in 2013 seeking to convert it to residential condos, but the Chetrit-led group decided to sell it instead.