First opened in 1869 and after a long history of developments, the building had to close in 2005 due to modern safety requirements: the grand department store, La Samaritaine. Wiki says: “In 2010 it was finally announced that a Japanese firm had been chosen to redesign the building as a combination hotel/apartments/offices, with a small retail component.”
Much of the building was still behind scaffolding and construction cranes blocked traffic but it looks like it’ll be a beauty when it’s done.