Location of Nike's future House of Innovation on Champs-Elysées sold for record price

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Oct 3, 2019

Nike has benefited from a "made-to-measure program" for the installation of its new flagship at 79 Avenue des Champs-Elysées. The American sportswear brand, which is leaving its current digs at number 66 on the famous Parisian avenue, will open its new location this winter, with work already underway as the world number one in sports and lifestyle sales prepares to bring its House of Innovation concept, currently only present in New York and Shanghai, to the French capital. 

In New York the concept store covers 6,000 square meters at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street. In Paris it will sit at the Champs-Elysées' intersection with Rue Quentin Bauchart, a location previously occupied by Toyota. Here the brand will open its largest European store over 4,300 square meters in an Art Déco building. In particular, the integration of an Art Deco double-helix staircase dating back to the 1930s within a high-tech Nike concept should make for an interesting aesthetic juxtaposition. In order to achieve this sizeable footprint, a number of spaces have been brought together and extra meters have been gained by taking over  offices. Furthermore, along with its commercial operations, Nike will also set up its management on the upper floors of the store, applying a similar model to that by adopted by Apple and Chanel in their own flagships on the Champs.

This approach goes some way to explain the value of the transaction which has just been completed. The building has been sold by Groupama Immobilier to Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management for 613 million euros. By way of comparison, the building currently hosting the Apple Store was sold for 600 million euros last year. 

"This operation, developed over five years in order to permit made-to-measure adaptations to Nikes' project, demonstrates that time in real estate is, above all, a long-term concept," explained Eric Donnet, managing director of Groupama Immobilier. "It also demonstrates once again just how attractive the Champs-Elysées is. Our conviction is that the avenue's vocation is to welcome new mixed concepts, combining retail, lifestyle and business. These locations are strong value providers for both investors and users, and also contribute to the vitality of the avenue and the capital."

Commercial activities on the Champs-Elysées have taken something of a battering over the last year but it seems that in the mid to long term, the avenue has managed to retain its attractiveness for international investors.