New York City is attracting retailers and restaurants again, following a drop in retail rents.
Rents in 16 main retail corridors in the city have dropped by slightly more than 12 percent in the past year, to $658 per square foot, and landlords are open to negotiation, according to a CBRE report cited by CNBC. Retail rents in the city rose sharply after the recession, forcing many retailers to close up shop.
Five Below is opening a store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue
One retailer now expanding in New York City is The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, which is opening 100 cafés and is among nearly 30 food-and-beverage signatories in the city’s 16 main retail corridors. Discount retailer Five Below, meanwhile, seeks to grow here too, marking its New York City debut with a store on Fifth Avenue.
"This is an opportunistic time, and rents have definitely softened," said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Douglas Elliman's retail group, speaking to CNBC. "There's nothing like a New York location. ... One store [in Manhattan] can make as much as a dozen suburban locations."
By Edmund Mander
Director, Editor-In-Chief/SCT
