April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] A building in southern Seoul that housed the flagship store of Ralph Lauren is on the market with a 58 billion won (US$51.46 million) price tag.

According to local news media on March 16, the building located near Dosan Park was put on sale early this month. The 641.4 square meter building, with four stories aboveground and two underground, has been home to the US fashion brand since 2009. Currently it is empty.

Ralph Lauren, along with French luxury house Hermes, were the first open outlets on the street that is now populated by international designer boutiques such as Jimmy Choo and Paul Smith. Beauty brands, spas, restaurants by famous chefs, and art galleries are also vying for space.

The spike in real estate prices in Cheongdam-dong, has seen some big names move to this area, pushing the price near the park to 200 and 300 million won for 3.3 square meter, four to five times rise in 10 years. The relatively small size of the area, surrounding the 150-meter long street, makes the properties more expensive, and more contained, said a real estate market source.

Cheil Industries, now part of Samsung C&T, bought a three-story building in 2011 for 6.7 billion won for Colombo, an Italian bag maker it acquired. SK-II has a spa in its building which the founder Shin Young-ja, Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho’s eldest daughter, purchased in 2010.

By Hwang You-mee (glamazon@heraldcorp.com)