It might not surprise you to learn that retail space on New York’s Fifth Avenue, where shoppers stroll through Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany’s and, of course, Saks Fifth Avenue, is the most expensive in the world – a whopping $3,052 per square foot. That’s up 11 percent from last year.
Just down the block, Madison Avenue retail space may sound like a bargain at $1,325 per square foot.
Those numbers take on perspective when compared to other tony retail real estate in the United States:
- Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, $450 per square foot
- Union Square, San Francisco, $375
- Michigan Avenue, Chicago, $328
- Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, $200
- Newbury St., Boston, $200
- Walnut St., Philadelphia, $107
- Pioneer Place, Portland, $80
- Highland Village, Houston, $76
- Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, $70
- Peachtree Street, Atlanta, $55
Those numbers are according to Colliers International’s 2013 Global Retail Highlights, which found that Hong Kong’s Queen’s Road at $2,087 per square foot and nearby Canton Road at $1,994 were the world’s second and third highest-priced shopping spaces between the two Manhattan addresses. London’s Bond Street commands the world’s fifth highest retail prices at $1,223 per square foot.
Meanwhile, in the real world, retail space across the suburbs of America leases for an average of just under $20 per square foot, according to Reis, Inc. The average price in the West is the highest, about $24 per square foot, while the Midwest and Southwest is the lowest, averaging closer to $16 per square foot.
The good news is the vacancy rate across the country has decreased from a high of over 13 percent nationwide from 2009 to 2011 to 10.5 percent today.