David Yurman Decamps in Chicago From Mag Mile for Gold Coast

Another luxury name is trading North Michigan Avenue for the Gold Coast.

David Yurman signed a lease to open a new Chicago store at 933 North Rush Street, replacing its longtime location at 919 North Michigan Avenue, according to people familiar with the deal. Crain’s reported that the move puts the New York-based jeweler squarely in the city’s tightest luxury retail corridor, where vacancies are scarce and rents have held firm even as the broader retail market recalibrates.

Yurman will take roughly 5,000 square feet currently occupied by Versace. It’s unclear whether the Italian fashion house plans to relocate elsewhere in Chicago. Prada Group, Versace’s parent company, did not respond to a request for comment. The space Yurman is leaving at 919 North Michigan is owned by Nuveen Real Estate, a unit of TIAA.

The Rush Street address — also known as 40–48 East Walton Street — sits at the heart of the Oak, Rush and Walton triangle, long considered Chicago’s most exclusive shopping strip. The building is home to other high-end fashion tenants including Dior and Brunello Cucinelli, underscoring the area’s allure for luxury brands seeking dense clusters of affluent foot traffic.

The property is owned by a venture of JMB Realty, the Chicago firm led by billionaire Neil Bluhm. JMB and a CBRE broker representing the landlord did not respond to requests for comment. CBRE brokers Luke Molloy, Danny Jacobson and Stephen Ansani had been marketing the Versace space for lease.

Yurman’s move follows a well-worn path. In recent years, Cartier, Chanel and Van Cleef & Arpels have all exited the Magnificent Mile for Oak Street, reflecting a broader repositioning of luxury retail in Chicago.

While the Mag Mile remains the city’s most visible shopping boulevard, it continues to wrestle with elevated vacancies and uneven foot traffic after the pandemic, though those vacancies are on the rebound. Lower rents and the return of major brands like Aritzia and Uniqlo, along with new experiential retail, are fueling the comeback.

As of the third quarter, vacancy along North Michigan Avenue stood at about 28.7 percent, down from the 2024 bottom of 34 percent, according to brokerage Kirsch Agency, even as leasing momentum has slowly improved. The Kirsch Agency’s study projects that leasing could double by the end of this year, falling below 24 percent retail vacancy.

— Eric Weilbacher