Rolex gliding into the Meatpacking District

The Meatpacking District’s Hermès store is about to get a luxury neighbor.

Sources told The Real Deal that famed watchmaker Rolex is opening a store in the trendy neighborhood, which has become known more for its athleisure shops and casual fashion brands than for luxury boutiques.

Rolex’s retail partner, Tourneau, inked a lease for roughly 3,500 square feet at Midtown Equities’ 29 Ninth Avenue, the sources said. The building is the home of the exclusive social club Soho House.

The rent works out to $2.1 million per year.

Representatives for Rolex and Midtown Equities could not be immediately reached for comment. Andrew Goldberg at CBRE represented Rolex while Cushman & Wakefield’s Joanne Podell and Mary Clayton negotiated the deal for Midtown Equities. The brokers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Rolex is moving into the space that briefly hosted Dean & Deluca’s Stage eatery over the summer before the iconic gourmet grocer began closing all of its stores.

The property is about a block north of the spot where luxury handbag retailer Hermès opened a store at 46-48 Gansevoort Street.

It’s not clear what Rolex has planned for its new location, but when Hermès announced it was coming to the neighborhood, the company’s president said its store would have a more youthful, “downtown feel.”

The Meatpacking District got its start as a shopping destination in the 1990s, when the clothing store Jeffrey New York and designers like Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen were selling high fashion as the last of neighborhood’s meatpacking businesses were on their way out. But in recent years the area has drawn more casual brands such as Lululemon and Levi’s.