Luxury brand conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy has leased 150,000 square feet across four office floors of 590 Madison Avenue, according to industry sources — and could also take some of the building’s retail space in the future.
LVMH already has offices at a tower it owns across the street at 19 East 57th Street as well as 150,000 square feet it leased at nearby 550 Madison Avenue last year.
The asking rent for 550 Madison was $190 per foot. LVMH’s new offices at 590 Madison were likely priced similarly, although the information was not immediately available. The 1-million-square-foot, 41-story tower is owned by an Ohio pension fund and managed by Edward J. Minskoff Equities.
CBRE represented the landlord while Jeffrey Peck and Daniel Horowitz of Savills represented LVMH. All declined to comment or did not return requests for comment.
With 590 Madison’s large retail tenant, Bonhams Auction House, preparing to relocate to 111 West 57th Street, where it recently signed a lease for 40,000 square feet, it is possible that LVMH will snag some or all of the space that Bonhams is vacating.
The office space at 590 Madison was available because IBM is leaving the building — which was built from 1978 to 1983 as headquarters for the tech giant — to consolidate at SL Green’s One Madison Avenue.
Minskoff, in turn, is revamping the hulking, 603-foot-tall 590 Madison to serve modern tenant needs. For instance, IBM’s previous client-facing and entertaining space on the third floor is being retooled as amenities for all tenants.
The new LVMH space will accommodate its expansion needs and provide “swing space” as the giant company tears down and redevelops the nearby 1 East 57th Street for Louis Vuitton and also reinvents 19 East 57th Street. The latter is a quirky, 1999 glass edifice designed by Christian de Portzamparc. Although an architectural masterpiece, it is technologically obsolete and its odd floor configurations have created an awkward office environment.
Known as the IBM Building, 590 Madison was sold in 1994 to Minskoff and the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio. The pension fund in 2015 bought the stake held by Minskoff, which continues to manage the building.
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A trapezoidal glass atrium featuring a café and seating opened to the public in 1983 and sits on leased parcels but is connected to both Trump Tower and the retail annex building at 6-8 East 57th Street controlled by the Trump Organization.
The LVMH brand Louis Vuitton is showcasing its wares in that annex now while its prior retail space and tower at 1 East 57th Street is being torn down and rebuilt. Tiffany & Co., now owned by LVMH, previously occupied that space while its own adjacent tower on the corner of Fifth Avenue was also being redeveloped. Nike used that retail space for Niketown before moving south to 650 Fifth Avenue.