Prada Buys Building Housing its Fifth Avenue Flagship

Prada (Milan) has bought the building that houses its flagship store on New York’s tony Fifth Avenue for $425 million, Women’s Wear Daily reports.

The luxury Italian brand, which rented the space since 1997, said the cash deal with 724 Fifth Fee Owner LLC was completed earlier this week and funded through internal resources. The deal marks the end of legal struggle between Prada and the building’s owner, Wharton Properties LLC and manager, Jeff Sutton, that landed in New York Supreme Court in December 2019. The dispute centered over the owner’s plan to redevelop the building, including having Prada move its flagship to a nearby space.

Altogether the building has 12 floors above ground and a total of 78,765 square feet, including more than 68,491 square feet of rentable space.

Prada said its board “believes that the property’s location offers high strategic value being characterized by increasing scarcity and long-term potential; furthermore, the area in the immediate vicinity of the property has recently seen an influx of significant investments that have further improved the residential, hospitality and retail appeal.”

The space will continue as its flagship with “the added opportunity for office premises and storage for the group,” Prada said. “Currently, it is the intention of the purchaser to use the property for its own purposes.”

Prada detailed the transaction in a filing with regulators in Hong Kong, where the company’s stock trades, according to WWD.