Pitt Street seventh among world’s most expensive strips
Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall is still one of the most expensive strips to lease retail space in the world, new research shows.
The iconic Sydney shopping destination sits alongside – and above – some of the most upmarket and exclusive streets globally when it comes to the cost of renting a shop, with a metre of space costing almost $14,000 annually, on average.
According to Cushman and Wakefield’s annual Main Streets Across the World report, Pitt St is the world’s seventh most expensive retail precinct by country.
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And other well-known Australian shopping spots are also holding up well, despite challenging conditions in bricks and mortar retail.
Melbourne’s Bourke St climbed from sixth to fifth in the Asia-Pacific, with rents averaging $7000 per square metre, while Brisbane’s Queen St held its position as the eighth most expensive in the region, with rents averaging $4500 per square metre.
But the top Australian retail locales pale in comparison to what retailers pay in other international cities.
New York’s Upper Fifth Ave was knocked out of top place this year by Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay precinct, where rents have soared to an astronomical $38,335 per square metre.
Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay is now the world’s most expensive retail strip.
Fifth Ave now occupies second place at $32,301 per square metre, while London’s Bond St rounds out the top three at a little over $25,000.
Cushman and Wakefield’s national director of retail leasing, Matt Hudson, says Australia’s major strips are faring well in the global retail climate.
“Australia has firmly maintained its position as host to one of the world’s top 10 most expensive retail streets, as rents in higher footfall locations such as Pitt and Bourke St have remained steady over the past 12 months,” Hudson says.
New York’s Upper 5th Ave is the world’s second most expensive strip for retail rents.
“Encouragingly, demand for large stores has been strong. There are various examples in CBD locations where multiple smaller units have been consolidated into a larger flagship store, in order to drive sales andimprove staff efficiency.”
“A number of key locations are under development and currently seeking large scale flagship tenants, which is providing heightened competition for key shopping malls which do not offer the street or brand exposure of a flagship location.”
TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE RETAIL STRIPS BY COUNTRY
- Causeway Bay (Hong Kong) – $38,335 per sqm annually
- Upper 5th Avenue (New York) – $32,301 per sqm
- New Bond St (London) – $25,038 per sqm
- Avenue des Champs Elysees (Paris) – $22,000 per sqm
- Via Montanapoleone (Milan) – $21,032 per sqm
- Ginza (Tokyo) – $17,500 per sqm
- Pitt Street (Sydney) – $13,838 per sqm
- Myeongdong (South Korea) – $13,031 per sqm
- Bahnhofstrasse (Zurich) – $12,264 per sqm
- Kohlmarkt (Vienna) – $7385 per sqm
