Madison Avenue rents decline

Madison Avenue, once of the world’s most premiere shopping strips, is not in the money right now. The retail shopping area has seen rents nosedive as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In the third quarter of 2020, the area saw a 17 percent decline in rents.

The new average price per square foot is 779 dollars, down 52 percent from the peak over 5 years. The news was reported by Business of Fashion. This trend is not only exclusive to Madison Avenue as retail rents all across Manhattan continue to decline. The overall trend in leases from retail to residential continues on a nosedive throughout the city as tourism is down and the exodus of people leaving New York City continues. According to CNN, Manhattan’s total number of vacant apartments have hit 15,000 as of August, the highest number on record in the last 14 years.

As more shoppers are turning to e-commerce and shopping online, store traffic is down. Herald Square also saw an 18 percent decline in retail rents. Many stores did not survive the pandemic, so that has increased the number of vacant stores across Manhattan. TImes Square now has 29 percent of available retail space. So far, it appears that only Lower Manhattan is doing well retail rent wise. Rents are up 4.5 percent in the area and continues to be trending well.