NYC’S FIFTH AVENUE IS MOST EXPENSIVE RETAIL STREET WORLDWIDE

New York’s Fifth Avenue is the most expensive retail street in the world. with rents rising to $3,500 per square foot, a 3.6 percent increase over last year, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s “Main Streets Across the World” report. The report tracks over 500 of the top retail streets around the globe, ranking them by their prime rental value.

Elsewhere in the U.S., Los Angeles’ Rodeo Drive corridor posted the highest retail rents outside New York at $800 per square foot, a 23 percent increase from last year. San Francisco’s Union Square rents went up to $650 per square foot, while Chicago’s Michigan Avenue posted at 8.2 percent rent growth with average retail rents of $525 per square foot. Seattle posted the highest rent growth, up 27.3 percent to $70 per square foot.

“The Americas region is expected to sustain a positive trajectory going forward into 2016, bolstered by a steady consumer sector benefiting from a material reduction in energy costs and stable employment expectations, especially in the U.S. Retailers will continue to add physical stores to support their expansion plans while at the same time optimizing their footprint to respond to the ongoing evolution of ‘clicks and bricks.’ International luxury brands will continue to dominate the high street, providing a boost to the key destination cities with high exposure from tourism and strong foot traffic,” according to the report.

Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay, Paris’ Avenue des Champs Elysees, London’s New Bond Street, and Milan’s Via Montenapolone rounded out the top five (after Fifth Avenue) of all worldwide streets.