Antoine Mothay is opening his Parisian handbag brand’s first Chicago store in a space owned by Gold Coast retail property magnate Fred Latsko.
Polène, whose CEO is Mothay and which sells designer bags with high-end features at prices under $1,000 for many of its products, is leasing the entire 7,000-square-foot building at 116 East Oak Street from Latsko Interests, according to sources familiar with the transaction.
The 10-year lease was signed in recent days, and it adds to a run of deals that have increasingly concentrated Chicago’s luxury shopping tenants on Oak Street, sometimes at the expense of the Magnificent Mile.
Polène, however, is adding to the mix of ritzy shopping options in Chicago without leaving another space, by opening its initial location in the city.
The tenant is filling a building that has been vacant for a year, since a short-term lease with luxury brand Loewe that was struck ahead of its new store opening at 51 East Oak. Before that, the building — owned by Latsko since he purchased it for a little more than $7.4 million in 2012 — was leased to women’s clothing boutique St. John, which also maintained an Oak Street location at 56 East Oak.
Latsko declined requests for comment and Polène didn’t return requests for comment. The price per square foot of the handbag brand’s lease is unclear.
For the landlord, the deal follows a recent high-profile sale he made on Oak Street. The Italian family behind the brand Max Mara paid a Latsko venture $17 million to buy 41 East Oak Street, which is leased to Bottega Veneta.
Brokers Elan Rasansky and Anthony Campagni of Canvas Real Estate represented the landlord in the Polène negotiations, while Wendy Silverman of Creative Retail Leasing and Lorraine Adney of Maven Commercial represented the tenant.
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