@bh_chamber
After the 2019 success of their Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul, architect Frank Gehry and interior designer/architect Peter Marino are re-teaming to create a 100,000 square foot Louis Vuitton flagship store in Beverly Hills on 458 Rodeo Drive.
Designed with a 45,000 square foot showroom for the titular company’s luxury products, the three-story building would also include a landscaped rooftop deck with restaurant seating for 100, private client areas, and about 55,000 square feet of exhibition/hospitality space. Assuming the city permitting process proceeds smoothly, construction could begin as soon as 2026, with a projected completion date of 2029.
The location, which previously was slated to become a Cheval Blanc hotel also designed by Peter Marino, is one of over 15 properties and storefronts that LVMH currently owns or operates in Beverly Hills’ “business triangle.” As Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian told the Beverly Hills Courier, “This version of the LVMH luxury project will be a real asset for the community. The new retail and the amenities will appeal both to residents and visitors alike. I am especially pleased that this project will bring Frank Gehry’s iconic and unique design to our Business Triangle.”
Although there are currently no renderings of the interiors of the project, it’s likely that Marino’s design will once again be highly responsive to Gehry’s muscular yet elegant exteriors. In 2019, Marino described his interiors for the South Korean Maison as being designed “with a Miesian rigor to more strongly emphasize the billowing energetic sculptural quality of Gehry’s exterior. The interior stone flows in from the exterior. The dynamism of the rectangular volumes cleanly contrast with the baroque glass shields of the building.”
The announcement of the project comes as several other local Gehry-designed buildings have recently been finished or are nearing completion: The $335 million Colburn School’s new building in downtown LA is expected to be completed by 2027, while Grand LA, a complex of residential and commercial structures located opposite the Walt Disney Concert Hall, is currently seeking new retail tenants. According to frequent architecture critic Carolina A. Miranda, while Grand LA’s 164,000 square feet of retail space has not attracted very many permanent retail tenants, “the residential tower, the Grand by Gehry — which includes 347 luxury rentals and 89 affordable units — is more than 95% leased.”
From the initial model images, Gehry’s design for the Beverly Hills Louis Vuitton store already seems to be far more engaged with its urban context than the Grand LA, which, as Miranda explains, “is very diligent about engaging Disney Hall, but to the other three thoroughfares it faces, the Grand delivers a lot of blank walls.”
The ample exhibition space within the Beverly Hills flagship store may serve as an excellent way to engage with the community and increase foot traffic. Before it was being considered as a Cheval Blanc hotel, the property was occupied by a 23,000 square foot Brooks Brothers, which closed in 2018 and has remained vacant since.
As Carine Mamann, Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chairman and luxury real estate specialist explained to CoStar News, “Everyone’s really excited to activate this part of Rodeo and to actually see something built there. It’s going to be great for all tenants. When I’m touring the street, they’re all excited and they want to know what’s happening on this corner.”
