ARNAULT SAID TO EYE 2ND N.Y. SITE
NEW YORK — Even a 23-story tower on East 57th Street may not be enough to contain Bernard Arnault’s growing fashion ambitions.
Reports are circulating in the industry that the chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton is closing in on a deal for the Chemical Bank building at 598 Madison Avenue on the northwest corner of 57th Street.
According to sources, Arnault may want to use the bank space, which has about 4,400 square feet on each of four floors, for a Louis Vuitton ready-to-wear store. The Louis Vuitton line is being designed by Marc Jacobs for a possible spring 1998 introduction.
Vuitton’s sales — mostly luggage and bags — reached $1.3 billion in 1994, representing 25 percent of LVMH’s total corporate sales. The U.S. represents one of Vuitton’s fastest growing markets, with over $300 million in sales.
The Chemical Bank is adjacent to the construction site where the LVMH tower is being built and there have been reports in real estate circles that Arnault may try to combine the two properties.
“It’s not done yet; it’s still being worked on,” said one of the building’s owners, referring to a prospective LVMH deal. “We’re talking to a lot of people. LVMH is one of them.”
Others, however, said an LVMH deal for the space is in the advanced stages.
LVMH is said to be after a net ground lease. Real estate experts said that type of long term lease — 49 years plus — would allow the company to tear down the bank and rebuild.
“I really can’t comment,” said Bruce Ingram, vice president of finance and administration for LVMH here.