Bernard Arnault Purchases Rodeo Drive Storefront for $85 Million

Chief Executive of Paris’ LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Bernard Arnault has purchased a storefront on Rodeo Drive for $85 million, which is reportedly the highest price on a square-foot basis ever paid in Los Angeles County, according to Business Journal.

Arnault is one of the wealthiest men in the world as the head of the luxury-brand conglomerate LVMG Moet Hennessey. He recently paid $11,971-per-square-foot for a 7,100-square-foot building in Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive. The space is currently occupied by Montblanc and Celine, the Business Journal reports, and Arnault paid all cash for the storefront. Arnault purchased the space from real estate firm New Pacific Realty Corp., who “purchased it four years ago for $34.5 million.”

Arnault has not yet announced what he plans to do with the space. His company, LVMH, owns more than 50 high-end brands that already have a presence on Rodeo Drive, including Louis Vutton and Fendi.

According to Business Journal, New Pacific “made contact with Arnault in early November, according to sources familiar with the deal. The company was asking such a high price because the location, in the center of Rodeo Drive, commands some of the highest lease rates in the area.”

The storefront is located at 319-323 N. Rodeo. 

ERIC PIERMONT/AFP/Getty Images

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