Inditex Buys Building In New York's SoHo

By Christopher Bjork 

MADRID--Spain's Industria del Diseño Textil SA has purchased a commercial property in the heart of New York's SoHo neighborhood for $280 million, the latest addition to a portfolio of large real-estate deals conducted by the fashion company behind the Zara brand.

The world's largest fashion retailer said in a news release that the 47,000 square feet space, located on Broadway, between Broome Street and Spring Street, will house a Zara store which is set to open at the end of this year.

While Inditex, which has more than 6,000 stores world-wide, has a relatively small presence in the U.S. compared with Europe and Asia, the apparel maker has recently opened several big stores in large U.S. cities, and its online store sales there are growing significantly.

Inditex usually rents store space, but in the past few years the cash-rich retailer has made several big property acquisitions in key shopping streets of large cities in Europe and the U.S.

In 2011, it bought the former National Basketball Association's store at 666 Fifth Ave. in Manhattan for $324 million. It has also bought prime real estate in London and Milan.

Write to Christopher Bjork at [e-mail]

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