A landmark two-story black touf (volcanic stone) building in downtown Yerevan will be leased for $42,000 monthly by a high-end retail clothing chain that says it will invest AMD 1.2 billion (US$3.1 million) to turn the space into a modern fashion center.

The building, on Abovyan Street right off Republic Square, is colloquially known as AOKS. AOKS is the Russian acronym for the Armenian Society for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries (ASRFC), an arm of the former Soviet foreign ministry.

The 1915 building has a troubled past. In 2001, two government officials (Armen Smbatyan – then adviser to the Armenian president on international cultural-humanitarian cooperation matters, and then Armenian Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan) finagled the property documents to gain ownership of this state registered landmark.

After years of legal wrangling, the Armenian government finally took ownership of the building in 2023.

Z&A LLC, headquartered in Yerevan, owns some thirty retail stores in Armenia and Georgia offering brands that include Burberry, Zegna, Casadei, Emporio Armani, Boss, Kenzo, Polo Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs.

It says the site, replete with a exhibition space, workshop and “traditional coffee bars”, will display the best of international and local fashion.