Burberry Group Plc (London) has announced it will move its U.S. headquarters next year to a building in New York and will top off the 42-story tower with three glowing Burberry signs, which will also show the time and temperature.
The new displays on the building, on Madison Avenue between 49th and 50th streets, will replace current signs for New York magazine. Though illuminated signs are prohibited on new skyscrapers in Manhattan, this building’s displays are permitted under a grandfather clause.
“Being able to have a building that’s going to say ‘Burberry’ in lights is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Eugenia Ulasewicz, Burberry’s president for the Americas.
Burberry’s new lease is for 68,348 square feet on three floors for 15 years. The fashion company currently occupies about 61,000 square feet on five noncontiguous floors at Sixth Avenue between 54th and 55th streets.
“We have wholesale clients coming to our office space,” Ulasewicz told The New York Times. “We’re expanding our showroom space from 8500 to 14,000 square feet. The floor with the showrooms has a wraparound terrace. Christopher Bailey, our creative head, is going to be doing some special English garden outdoor furniture just for the terraces.”
Burberry may also open a retail store in the building, though Ulasewicz said nothing has been finalized. Currently, Burberry has two stores in Manhattan: on 57th Street between Madison and Fifth avenues and in SoHo. Madison Avenue in the 40s is not known for its high-end retail.