Italian Retailer LuisaViaRoma to Open 1st U.S. Store in Noho

This season of “The White Lotus” may be over, but consumers seeking a hint of Italian luxury have a new spot to explore in Noho.

Italian retailer LuisaViaRoma signed a 13,000-square-foot lease at 1 Bond Street, the New York Business Journal reported. It will be the online retailer’s first physical location in the U.S.

The retailer will occupy 8,000 square feet on the ground level and 5,000 square feet on the lower level of the six-story building, which sits across the street from Zero Bond, a favored hangout of Mayor Eric Adams. Asking rent on the long-term lease was $250 per square foot.

LuisaViaRoma is filling a space left by Blick Art Materials, which relocated to 443 Broadway over the summer, according to the Commercial Observer.

A Retail by Mona team led by Brandon Singer and Michael Cody represented the landlord, 1 Bond LLC. DH Advisors’ Dan Harroch represented the Florence-based retailer.

LuisaViaRoma has tested its brand in Manhattan before, hosting a pop-up in Tribeca for a month in 2018. High foot traffic in Noho is what drew the company to its permanent location, according to Singer.

The retail picture across the country looks better than it did at the start of the pandemic, when stay-at-home orders and store closures roiled the market. In the second quarter, retail vacancy across the nation dropped to 6.1 percent, the lowest mark in 15 years according to Cushman & Wakefield.

Retail asking rents, meanwhile, surged. Asking rents at shopping centers, for instance, were 16 percent higher in the second quarter than they were five years earlier.

LuisaViaRoma isn’t the only Manhattan retailer to be drawn to Lower Manhattan in recent months. In October, grocery and dining chain Eataly agreed to an 18,000-square-foot lease at Brookfield Properties’ 200 Lafayette Street in Soho. The asking rent was $2.7 million per year.