BHV Marais: a luxury Experimental Group hotel on the Paris rooftops by 2030, everything you need to know

The Parisian department store landscape is on the cusp of one of its most profound transformations since the 19th century. The BHV Marais, founded in 1856 and long held by the Galeries Lafayette group, passed into Canadian hands on 28 January 2026: Brookfield Asset Management acquired the historic building on rue de Rivoli for approximately €300 million. The deal marks the beginning of a radical overhaul, steered by asset management firm Aroxys, which plans to invest a further €200 million over four years.

In this new chapter, the 45,000 m² building facing the Hôtel de Ville will no longer be solely a department store. The historic retail operation, run by Frédéric Merlin (Société des Grands Magasins), will retain only 40% of the floor space. The remaining 60% will be repurposed for partitioned international brand boutiques, premium dining, and above all a luxury hotel managed by Experimental Group on the 6th and 7th floors, with a target delivery of 2030.

The deal was officially confirmed on 28 January 2026: Brookfield Asset Management, the Canadian fund specialising in prime real estate, became the owner of BHV Marais for approximately €300 million. The building, sold by the Groupe Galeries Lafayette, thus changed hands after more than a century of ownership stability. To steer the project, Brookfield partnered with Aroxys, a Parisian real-estate asset management firm founded in 2024 by Ara Adjennian, former founder and CEO of MIMCO Asset Management (€700 M assets under management).

Aroxys’s mandate: refocus the BHV retail operation · still run by the Société des Grands Magasins under Frédéric Merlin · onto 40% of the 45,000 m², and redeploy the remaining 60% around a mixed programme combining international brand boutiques, urban retail and luxury hospitality. A repositioning that goes well beyond simple modernisation: the goal is to reinvent the vocation of a building founded in 1856, at the time Paris was being Haussmannised, into a hybrid destination for Parisians and international travellers alike.

This firm, called Aroxys, is beginning to reveal its plans for the BHV. The BHV retail operation will be substantially reduced: it will occupy only 40% of the floor space. Among the remaining 60%, there will be boutiques, restaurants, and on the top two floors, the 6th and 7th, there will probably be a hotel. · Guillaume Echelard, Challenges

The biggest news of the project: Experimental Group will operate the future hotel. The Parisian group, founded by Romée de Goriainoff, Olivier Bon, Pierre-Charles Cros and Xavier Padovani, is known for its cocktail bars (Experimental Cocktail Club, Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels) and its chic yet laid-back hotel addresses: Grand Pigalle Hôtel, Henrietta Hotel in London, Hôtel des Grands Boulevards, and the flagship Hôtel des Grands Voyageurs. The expected positioning for the BHV: a lively palace atmosphere rooted in the life of the Marais, halfway between a neighbourhood address and an international establishment.

The hotel will occupy the 6th and 7th floors, long abandoned by retailers. These two upper levels offer a rare Paris opportunity: near-panoramic views over the Parisian zinc rooftops, the Hôtel de Ville, and the Marais’s historic alleyways. Rooms and suites will naturally benefit from this elevated light, amplified further by the ceiling heights and preserved ornaments of the original building. The operator has not made public statements on the exact number of keys or the final editorial concept; however, it is expected to add a dining component accessible from the street, in keeping with the group’s other addresses.

The choice to install partitioned boutiques, as opposed to the classic department store model, is the project’s other strong signal. The aim is to create a more selective shopping destination where each brand can cultivate its own identity: independent shopfronts, dedicated entrances, distinct atmospheres. The model is closer to flagships than to a traditional department store’s concession stands, targeting an international CSP+ clientele already familiar with rue de Rivoli, the nearby Louvre galleries, and the Palais Royal neighbourhood.

At this stage, neither Brookfield nor Aroxys has publicly shared the architectural blueprints: no lead architect named, no fit-out plans, no first tenants confirmed. The protected historic zone does, however, impose strict heritage constraints: conservation of the facades, restoration of original elements (columns, vaults, ironwork) and harmonious integration of new uses. The Paris city hall remains the final arbiter: the planning permit process alone will determine when the hotel opens its doors.

The transformation is not without social tension. Reducing the BHV’s retail footprint to 40% of the building has already had concrete repercussions: 500 of the 1,200 employees have left the company in recent months. Christian Poncet, BHV union delegate, laments the lack of clear projections and condemns what he calls “a restructuring plan that dare not speak its name”. Added to this are recent controversies (supplier tensions, Shein controversy, brand departures), which have weakened a historic retailer searching for a new equilibrium.

We do not know exactly where we are heading today. Our concern is always the same: the interests of the employees. They are under threat today, and we have no clear, definitive projection. · Christian Poncet, BHV union delegate

The dialogue between Brookfield, Aroxys, the Société des Grands Magasins, employee representatives, and Paris city hall will be decisive in seeing the project through. By 2030, the challenge is not merely architectural or commercial: the task is to successfully transform a monument of Parisian retail into a hybrid venue where luxury hospitality, prestige retail, and the memory of a Marais department store must coexist within a single building.

Sources: Challenges (Guillaume Echelard) · France 3 Régions · FashionNetwork · FashionUnited · Communications from Brookfield / Aroxys / Société des Grands Magasins. Visuals: AI-generated editorial illustrations.