Rents in New Bond Street top euro list
NEW Bond Street has taken over from the Champs-Elysées as the most expensive
shopping location in Europe, according to a survey.
Rents also grew faster there over the last year than on any other shopping street in the world.
They soared 19.4 per cent to £536 ($836) per square foot over the last 12 months, the figures from retail estate agent Cushman & Wakefield showed yesterday.
That compares with the world’s most expensive shopping street, New York’s Fifth Avenue, where rents rose by 8.8 per cent to $1850 a square foot.
Cartier, Chanel and Louis Vuitton all have stores in New Bond Street, which has outstripped Champs-Elysees in Paris as the continent’s dearest shopping space per square foot.
Peter Mace, head of Central London Retail at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “New Bond Street remains one of the most sought after locations in the world for luxury brands and, due to the significant imbalance between supply and demand, it continues to witness significant rental growth.
“The recent letting of 169 New Bond Street to Piaget represented a record rent for the street with the new tenant also contributing a significant premium to secure vacant possession.
There were four under-bidders for the store.
“This trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future on the basis that there are still a large number of retail requirements that remain unsatisfied.”
Champs-Élysées rents actually fell 9.5 per cent over the last year to the equivalent of $793 a square foot. But agents believe it could be in for a revival with H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch and Tommy Hilfiger all planning to open there and space beginning to dry up.
South Korea’s Myeongdong in Seoul jumped three places this year from eleventh to eighth, their strong performance down to demand from international retailers and strong tourism with their export market up 7.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2010.
Meanwhile retail rents have reverted back to their pre-credit crunch strength averaging a 17 per cent increase in prime areas.