Bernard Arnault acquires another Champs Elysées building

Luxury’s greatest shopaholic, Bernard Arnault, has bought himself another trophy building, located on his favorite strip – Les Champs Elysées.

 
The French multi-billionaire snapped up 150 avenue Champs Elysées, an 18,000 square-meter building, which sources indicate set Arnault back close to one billion euros. Meaning a whopping €55,000 per square-meter.
 
According to real estate agents in Paris, LVMH, the most gigantic luxury conglomerate in the world, sealed deal just before the weekend on Friday evening.

The sheer size of the acquisition was considered a surprised by real estate professionals given the current softness in French real estate.
 
But Arnault is clearly greatly enamored by the Champs Elysées, which French folks regard as the most beautiful avenue in the world. Besides number 150, Arnault’s biggest brand Louis Vuitton owns its biggest global flagship at 101. Just 50 meters up the slanted avenue at 103, Vuitton is also poised to build another massive store and its first ever hotel.
 
This negotiation to buy 150, which apparently took the form of a share deal signed off market, was completed in less than three months, according to the well-informed French property broker website CFNews Immo. 
 
LVMH, which declined to comment on the operation, is believed to have acquired the building at 150 from a group of investors led by Mimco Asset Management, a Canadian listed investment fund, which held 72.6% stake in the property. This group reportedly bought 150 in spring 2022 for €750 million, thus realizing a major profit in just 18 months. 
 
It remains to be seen what Arnault will do with the new building, although there is speculation he may create a new retail flagship for Dior above which will be the brand’s new HQ. As reported by Fashion Network, LVMH recently changed its plans for 103, originally intended to be Dior’s world headquarters and now handed over to Vuitton. Another possible tenant for 150 could be Tiffany, the American jewelry brand that has so far strained to gain traction since being acquired by LVMH in January 2021 for $15.8 billion.
 
Number 150 is located on the upper right side ascending the Champs Elysees, just below a Cartier flagship and 100 meters from the Arc du Triomphe. The building also extends around the corner to two other streets, rue Arsène Houssaye and rue Lord Byron.
 
There is speculation that Arnault was moved to pay top dollar after rumors that Gucci – the most important brand of Kering, LVMH’s greatest rival – was about to sign a long lease on 150.
 
In a word, the acquisition of this property by BA, as many like to call him in Paris, is merely the latest move in an elaborate real estate chess battle that has seen both Kering and LVMH spend some two billion euros on central Paris real estate properties and high-profile retail spaces in the past 18 months.
 
To paraphrase military strategist Carl Von Clausewitz, real estate wars are nothing but the continuation of luxury wars by other means.