LVMH Looking to Hop Aboard Luxury Buyer Trend in Manhattan

Bernard Arnault isn’t content to sit on the sidelines while other big names in international luxury retail buy up buildings in Manhattan’s hottest neighborhoods.

French conglomerate LVMH is in discussions to purchase 745 Fifth Avenue in the Plaza District, Bloomberg reported. Among the tenants at the property are Bergdorf Goodman, which runs a men’s store on the first three floors.

It’s unclear how far along discussions are for the property at the corner of 58th Street. There are other bidders pursuing the 35-story Art Deco building, where Albert Behler’s Paramount Group is the landlord.

Paramount refinanced the building in 2020 with $250 million from Deutsche Pfandbriefbank. German investment firm Wilhelm von Finck owns 99 percent of the property, while Paramount owns the minority stake. It’s not immediately clear how much the building last traded hands for.

Paramount and LVMH did not respond to requests for comment from Bloomberg.

The luxury giant would be joining a slew of other luxury companies that have poured into Manhattan’s commercial market in recent weeks.

Jeff Sutton and SL Green last week sold the retail section of 715-717 Fifth Avenue for $963 million to Kering, the French luxury group behind Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen.

Weeks earlier, Sutton offloaded 724 Fifth Avenue to Prada, which already has its flagship store at the property. Prada paid $425 million for the building, as well as $410 million for neighboring 720 Fifth Avenue, piecing together one of the city’s largest deals of the year in its final days.

LVMH has plenty going on elsewhere in Manhattan as it shuffles around its retail and office holdings. But the company is also emphasizing real estate acquisitions and set a personal record last year, after acquiring $2.66 billion worth of real estate across the globe.

— Holden Walter-Warner