Celebrity Kim Kardashian’s Skims is leasing space in Chicago’s Gold Coast, reflecting a shift in local retail property demand, as the shapewear brand extends its initial wave of stand-alone store openings throughout the country.
The seller of products such as bras, underwear and swimwear is arriving in Chicago as the pocket of luxury retail real estate on and around Oak and Rush streets thrives, even as other areas such as the nearby Magnificent Mile struggle with high vacancy.
Skims has a deal to take over a space at 1000 N. Rush St. now occupied by Wintrust Bank, according to people familiar with the situation.
The bank recently sold the nearly 9,700-square-foot property, at the base of a separately owned 38-story apartment tower at 2 E. Oak St., to developer L3 Capital for $21.5 million.
Chicago-based L3 has a lease in place to move the bank branch to a smaller two-level space in a building it owns just to the north at 1051 N. Rush St., according to the people familiar. That space previously was leased to shoe retailer Vans.
Skims, co-founded by Kardashian, previously has opened stand-alone stores in markets including Los Angeles; Houston; Atlanta; Austin, Texas; and Washington, D.C.
CoStar News first reported L3's purchase of the property at Rush and Oak. Later, Crain’s Chicago Business reported the lease with Skims.
It’s unclear when the Skims store and the new Wintrust branch will open.
Skims and L3 did not respond to requests for comment from CoStar News.
Gold Coast changes include recent leases with retailers such as Italian clothing brand Brandy Melville and streetwear brand Kith, as well as several longtime restaurants changing spaces or getting major makeovers.
That includes L3’s nearly completed redevelopment of the longtime Carmine’s Bar & Lounge building at 1043 N. Rush, with the restaurant set to reopen in a new, multitenant structure.
“I don’t think the Gold Coast has ever looked better,” said Stone Real Estate retail broker John Vance, who was not involved in the Skims or Wintrust deals.
Wintrust’s sale of the property at 1000 N. Rush included the bank providing an $18.5 million loan, as well as the bank signing a profit-sharing agreement that would take effect under circumstances such as L3 selling the property or refinancing it within five years, according to public records.
L3 has owned the building at 1051 N. Rush since buying it for $9.7 million in late 2021, according to Cook County property records.