Buyer of $400M Rodeo Drive Property Is Unmasked

Hermès has been unmasked as the deep-pocketed force behind a record-shattering Beverly Hills deal: a $400 million purchase on Rodeo Drive that ranks as the priciest retail property acquisition in the city in at least two decades. People familiar with the transaction tell the Wall Street Journal the French luxury house quietly took control last summer of two adjoining properties that currently host Tom Ford, Moncler, and Balenciaga at 338 North Rodeo Drive, totaling about 25,000 square feet. The sale itself was public; the buyer was not.

What comes next is unclear. Long-term leases mean any Hermès-branded store there is likely years away, though the site would offer roughly double the footprint of its existing Rodeo Drive boutique. The Journal sees a broader pattern at play, flagging a trend among luxury groups to balloon the sizes of their marquee storefronts. It also notes Rodeo Drive real estate is scarce: There's reportedly a single vacant storefront at the moment.