New York's Fifth Avenue tops the ranking of the world's most expensive shopping locations

14 Nov, 2007, Global

New York retains its title as the world’s most expensive shopping destination in this year’s edition of Main Streets Across the World, the annual publication by global real estate consultant, Cushman & Wakefield.

An average 1,000 sq ft/93 sq m unit on at Fifth Avenue’s most expensive stretch, along the golden corridor between the junctions with 49th and 59th Street, now costs around US$1.5mn a year, up 11 per cent on last year.

Main Streets Across the World (MSATW) is this year launched at MAPIC, the international market for retail real estate taking place in Cannes, France, on 14-16 November. The report tracks retail rents in the world’s top 231 shopping locations across 44 countries. The global league table is drawn up by taking the most expensive location in each of the countries monitored.

John Strachan, Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Head of Retail, comments: "We are seeing the emergence of a line-up of global shopping destinations, whether Fifth Avenue in New York, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong or Avenue Champs-Elysées in Paris, where retailers are using flagship stores in prestige locations to leverage the value of their brands. These locations are not just attracting local shoppers, but shoppers from around the world, whose very reason to travel is quite often to shop, while the driving force in many of the Asia Pacific locations is also the emergence of a middle class with money in their pockets."

Regarding New York’s Fifth Avenue, Gene Spiegelman, Executive Director of Cushman & Wakefield in New York, says: "Fifth Avenue has maintained its dominant position as the world-class destination for global brands looking to establish a retail presence. Occupiers are willing to pay record-setting rents to secure retail positions on the stretch of Fifth Avenue from 49^th Street to 59^th Street. Retail rents for ground floor space on Fifth Avenue have doubled in the past five years, from US$750 to US$1,500 per square foot, culminating with Gucci’s lease of more than 40,000 square feet at 725 Fifth Avenue at the end of 2006."

THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE SHOPPING STREETS

Rank 2007	Rank 2006	Country	Cities	Location	Rent €/sq.m/year	Rent US$/sq.ft/year
1	1	US	New York	Fifth Avenue	11,983	1,500
2	2	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Causeway Bay	9,688	1,213
3	3	France	Paris	Avenue des Champs Elysées	7,364	922
4	4	UK	London	New Bond Street	6,498	814
5	5	Japan	Tokyo	Ginza	5,459	683
6	6	Ireland	Dublin	Grafton Street	5,340	669
7	7	Switzerland	Zurich	Bahnhofstrasse	3,926	492
8	8	Australia	Sydney	Pitt Street Mall	3,905	489
9	10	Greece	Athens	Ermou	3,600	451
10	9	South Korea	Seoul	Gangnam Station	3,441	431
11	=10	Germany	Munich	Kaufingerstraße	3,120	391
12	=14	Italy	Milan/Rome	Via Montenapoleone/Via Condotti	3,000	376
13	12	Spain	Madrid	Preciados	2,880	361
14	13	Singapore	Singapore	Orchard Road	2,597	325
15	17	Austria	Vienna	Kärntnerstraße	2,400	300
16	24	India	New Delhi	Khan Market	2,236	280
17	16	Denmark	Copenhagen	Strøget	2,227	279
18	15	Russia	Moscow	Tverskaya	2,226	279
19	20	China	Beijing	Wanfujing	2,137	268
20	18	Czech Republic	Prague	Na Prikope/Wenceslas Square	2,040	255
=21	21	Netherlands	Amsterdam	Kalverstraat	2,000	250
=21	19	Norway	Oslo	Karl Johan Gate	2,000	250
23	27	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	Suria KLCC	1,663	208
24	26	Brazil	São Paulo	Iguatemi Shopping	1,596	200
25	22	Canada	Toronto/Vancouver	Bloor Street/Robson Street	1,584	198
26	23	Belgium	Brussels	Rue Neuve	1,580	198
27	25	Finland	Helsinki	City centre	1,500	188
28	=28	Hungary	Budapest	Váci utca	1,440	180
29	32	New Zealand	Wellington	Lambton Quay	1,430	179
30	30	Romania	Bucharest	Bulevardul Magheru	1,380	173
31	31	Sweden	Stockholm	Biblioteksgatan	1,302	163
32	=28	Bulgaria	Sofia	Vitosha Blvd	1,200	150
33	33	Turkey	Istanbul	Abdi Ipekci (European side)	1,176	147
34	34	Taiwan	Taipei	ZhongXiao E. Road	1,106	138
35	36	Israel	Tel Aviv	Ramat Aviv	1,069	134
36	=38	Poland	Warsaw	ul. Chmielna/ul. Nowy Swiat	960	120
37	n/a	Lebanon	Beirut	ABC Centre Achrafieh	928	116
=38	35	Portugal	Lisbon	Baixa	900	113
=38	=38	Slovakia	Bratislava	Downtown	900	113
40	41	Thailand	Bangkok	City Centre	696	87
41	40	South Africa	Johannesburg	Sandton City	650	81
42	42	Mexico	Mexico city	Mazaryk/Perisur	556	70
43	37	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Avenue Santa Fe	365	46
44	46	Philippines	Manila	Makati CBD	230	29

Source: Cushman & Wakefield

The world ranking sees little movement at the top, with Hong Kong (Causeway Bay) retaining its second place and Paris (Avenue des Champs Elysées) its third place. Khan Market in New Delhi, the most expensive destination in India, is the biggest riser in this year’s ranking, after also being the biggest riser last year; in the 2005 edition of MSATW, Khan Market was 41st, last year it moved to 24th and this year it has risen to 16th.

Rajneesh Mahajan, National Head, Retail, Cushman & Wakefield India, says: “Retail is going through a revolution in India, although part of the increase in rents is due to the lack of high-quality space in the right location. This is in strong contrast to other emerging markets such as China, where rental growth has been mainly driven by increasing demand from both domestic and international retailers due to restrictive legislation being lifted in the past few years as part of China’s obligations towards the World Trade Organisation.”

The Khan Market district in New Delhi is located in the heart of a premium residential pocket, housing diplomats, industrialists, civil servants and high-net worth individuals. The area offers a mix of local and international brands, including Nike, Benetton, Swarovski, McDonald’s, Barista and Bandhej, among others.

Globally, Chicago’s Oak Street was the location with the biggest rental increases in local currency. Here, rents for prime properties have doubled in one year. Jim Downey, Senior Director, Retail Services of Cushman & Wakefield in the US, explains: “Oak Street has become a very desirable place for retail. Not only is there a limited availability, but the openings of Graaf, Harry Winston, David Yurman have taken the whole street more up market.”

Top ten locations for % rent rises in local currency June 2006-June 2007
1	Chicago	East Oak Street	100.0%
2=	New Delhi	Ansal Plaza	87.5%
2=	New Delhi	Connaught Place	87.5%
4	St Petersburg	Nevsky Prospekt	81.8%
5	Mumbai	Kemps Corner, South Mumbai	78.2%
6	Los Angeles	Rodeo Drive (Beverly Hills)	71.4%
7	New Delhi	Greater Kailash I	57.1%
8	Mumbai	Fort/Fountain, South Mumbai	55.2%
9	São Paulo	Direita/Itapetininga	54.0%
10	Rio de Janeiro	Visconde de Pirajá (Ipanema)	53.8%

Regarding the way ahead, John Strachan says: “We are seeing no signs of let-up in the demand for the right space in the right location, despite the anticipated slowdown in the global economy for 2008. Retailers are continuing unabated with their aaggressive drive into new markets, both mature and emerging. This in turn is helping to support and, indeed, increase rents in key retail locations around the world, where availability is tight and turnover of units is limited.”

For further information, please contact:

Chris Bond

Cushman & Wakefield EMEA

Tel: + 44 20 7152 5006

Notes to Editors:

1. Main Streets Across the World is based on data collected in June 2007 from Cushman & Wakefield’s offices around the world. The data relates to the rent obtainable on a standard unit (frontage of six metres and depth of 25 metres) in a prime pitch.

2. Cushman & Wakefield is one of the world’s largest commercial real estate services firms. Founded in 1917, the firm has 215 offices in 56 countries, and 12,000 talented professionals. Cushman & Wakefield delivers integrated solutions by actively advising, implementing and managing on behalf of landlords, tenants, lenders and investors through every stage of the real estate process. These solutions include representing clients in the buying, selling, financing, leasing and managing of assets. The firm also provides valuation advice, strategic planning and research, portfolio analysis, and site selection and space location assistance, among many other advisory services. To find out more about Cushman & Wakefield, please visit www.cushmanwakefield.com.

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