Linklaters and Osborne Clarke France have advised on a major off-plan commercial lease agreement ('bail commercial en l’état futur d’achèvement') for international art gallery Hauser & Wirth's new space in Paris.

Hauser & Wirth will rent the space from investment fund Ardian, which bought the building in 2018 from Lagardère Group. It is a 19th Century neo-classical hôtel particulier in Paris' golden triangle, between Avenue Montaigne and the Champs-Élysées.

The Osborne Clarke team, which advised Hauser & Wirth, was led by Paris-based real estate partner Stéphane Catays, who said, "We are glad to have assisted Hauser & Wirth with this ambitious real estate project, adding a Paris location to the mega-gallery's growing global presence. We can’t wait to attend the first exhibitions in this iconic building."

Located at 26 bis rue François 1er and spread across approximately 800 sq.m and four floors, Hauser & Wirth’s new Paris gallery will be designed by Paris-based architect Luis Laplace, who has worked closely with the company since 2013 on several projects that have restored architecturally significant buildings. The gallery will include a six-metre-high ground floor exhibition space and another one upstairs on the first floor. From 1955 to 2018 the building was the headquarters of the French radio station Europe 1. Until the 1940s, it was occupied by decorative arts gallery La Maison Decour.

Hauser & Wirth has 14 exhibition spaces across Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Hong Kong, Spain, and Monaco.

Linklaters partner Françoise Maigrot and associate Farah Alabed advised Ardian.

The Osborne Clarke team also included senior real estate asssociate Franck-Olivier Klein and planning team partner Alexandre Le Mière and senior associate Lénaic André.