Kim Kardashian’s popular shapewear brand Skims has acquired 20,000 square feet of space on New York City’s coveted Fifth Avenue for at least 75% less than previous tenant Versace paid. I leased it.
This figure means Skims paid less than $200 per square foot for the property at 647 Fifth Avenue near East 52nd Street, while Donatella Versace paid a whopping $770 per square foot. It is said that he paid a certain amount. Cranessaid, citing a Fitch Ratings report.
After Versace exited the store in 2018 (four years before the luxury retailer’s lease expired), other chic neighborhood stores, including Armani Exchange, followed suit and Skims earned these deep discounts. paved the way for
Skims plans to open its flagship store by February 2025 in a rented five-story Beaux-Arts mansion with vaulted ceilings and Carrera marble surfaces, Crain’s reported.
The news comes a week after 647 Fifth Ave.’s mortgage was downgraded by Fitch on Thursday due to “expected declines in rental income.”
The majority of the building is owned by Oxford Properties, the real estate arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, a pension fund with more than $100 billion in assets, according to Crain’s.
“Olympic Tower is Midtown’s premier office and retail destination, and we are excited to welcome Skims, who we believe will bring great benefits to the building,” Oxford said in a statement to the store.
“We continue to have a positive outlook on our Olympic Tower occupancy as we currently have fully leased the retail space and are in negotiations to fully lease the office space as well. can continuously increase their income.”
The remaining 33% of the property is owned by Crown Acquisitions, a real estate company founded by billionaire investor Stanley Cella.
The space Skims will occupy is part of a $1 billion loan to the adjacent Olympic Tower, a 500,000-square-foot luxury apartment and office building whose tenants include the NBA, Richemont North America and its subsidiary Cartier. It is said that it was included in To Cranes.
Retail takes up just 28% of the space at Olympic Tower, but reportedly accounts for more than 60% of the rent, according to Fitch.
Armani Exchange leased 2% of the space and paid 4% of the rent, but vacated 645 Fifth before its lease expired in June of this year. Crain’s reports that there are no known substitutes.
Luxury jeweler H. Stern paid 5% of the rent but recently occupied just 0.2% of the space after vacating the ground floor retail space at 645 Fifth, which had been partially filled by LVMH Watches & Jewelry. There is.
H. Stern plans to vacate the second-floor space when its lease expires in December.
According to Crain’s, Italian handbag maker Furla, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2021, also withdrew.
Skims is reaping the benefits of its exit at 645 Fifth, just a few blocks from where Gucci’s owner and Prada spent an astonishing sum to acquire prime retail space, the magazine reported.
The Kardashian-owned company started as an online-only company and now has retail locations in department stores like Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue.
The brand is set to expand into the space, with plans for more brick-and-mortar stores in Los Angeles over the next year, after huge success with temporary pop-up shops in Rockefeller Center and London.
It was also valued at $4 billion last year after raising $270 million in its latest funding round.
Following a rise in valuation, Kardashian received a $500 million windfall thanks to a 35% stake in the shapewear company, which has also expanded its sales of lingerie, swimwear and men’s clothing.
According to Forbes magazine, the 43-year-old mother of four is currently worth $1.7 billion.
Representatives for Skims did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
