The rents for retail space in Manhattan have increased, according to a new report from the Real Estate Board of New York. The REBNY report gels with one from brokerage Cushman & Wakefield in late October that declared Fifth Avenue near 57th Street the most expensive real estate corridor in the world rent-wise.
The Cushman report said retail space in that area rents for around $1,350 a square foot annually, a 3.8 percent increase from 2005. The REBNY report says Fifth Avenue ground-floor retail space in Midtown now averages $1,035 a foot, a 27 percent increase over last fall.
The rest of Manhattan? Also more expensive than 2005.
The REBNY release after the jump.
– Tom Acitelli
Median prices per-square-foot for ground floor space jumps 12.5 percent to $225 in major Manhattan corridors; average price up to $297
NEW YORK, NY – Nov. 7, 2006 – Major Manhattan retail corridors continued to see rents increase for ground floor space, as the median price per square foot climbed 12.5 percent from the same period last year, according to the Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) Fall Retail Report.
In selected major retail corridors, the ground floor median asking rent was up 26 percent on Madison Avenue to $1000 per square foot. On Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District, median prices climbed 28 percent to $263 per square foot. Rents on Seventh Avenue in Midtown rose 42 percent to $479 per square foot and the price per square foot on West 42nd Street soared 50 percent to $300.
“The strong demand for retail space and corresponding increase in rents is a positive sign – one that indicates the health of our city’s economy,” said REBNY President Steven Spinola. “Despite the surge in asking rents, retailers’ interest in locating their stores in Manhattan is still strong.”
The average asking rent for all Manhattan retail space rose four percent from the same period last year to $106 per square foot. The biggest rise was on the Westside with an average rent increase of 14 percent to $122 per square foot, followed by Downtown’s 8.2-percent jump to $92 per square foot and Midtown’s $137 per square foot, a seven-percent increase.
Overall, average asking rents per square foot for ground floor space was highest on Fifth Avenue in Midtown. Since last year there has been a 27-percent increase to $1035 per square foot.
Other report findings include:
• The selected major retail corridors also had increases in the average asking rent for ground floor space: 15 percent to $100 per square foot on 125th Street, 26 percent to $288 per square foot on Broadway in SoHo and 28 percent to $160 per square foot on Broadway in Lower Manhattan.
• The median asking rent for ground floor space in Midtown South increased 15.4 percent to $300 per square foot and the Westside rose 11.1 percent to $250 per square foot.
• There are 664 new stores in the Manhattan area since this time last year, with an increase of 3,427,436 total square feet.
