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Report Shows Double-Digit Spike in Meatpacking District, SoHo Retail Rents

By Danielle Tcholakian | May 19, 2015 3:14pm | Updated on May 19, 2015 7:34pm
 Pearl River Mart, a longtime staple on Broadway in SoHo, is leaving its location there due to rising rent.
Pearl River Mart, a longtime staple on Broadway in SoHo, is leaving its location there due to rising rent.
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DNAinfo/Danielle Tcholakian

Business is booming in the Meatpacking District, according to a new report from the Real Estate Board of New York.

The report culled information on ground-floor retail rents being asked for vacancies in commercial corridors across the city.

The Meatpacking District saw a 10 percent increase in asking rents, on average, between spring of 2014 and spring of 2015, which the report credited to a few different factors: increasing foot traffic in the neighborhood, including Chelsea Market, the High Line and the growing tech sector headquartering offices in the area.

Rents are expected to increase with the added foot traffic from the opening of the new Whitney Museum on Gansevoort Street. Notably, restauranteur Keith McNally is reportedly looking for a new venue in the neighborhood for Pastis, ousted last year by developers in favor of a Restoration Hardware.

The report looked at 14th Street between Ninth and 10th Avenues, where asking retail rents for vacant ground floor space now average $372 per square foot, up from $339 in spring and fall of 2014. Listed rents now range from $450 to $600 per square foot. The high end was $450 a year ago.

The other area in the city with ground-floor retail rents comparable to the Meatpacking District is the markedly less trendy stretch of Third Avenue between 60th Street and 72 Street, which saw the biggest spike between fall 2014 and now: a 36 percent jump from $266 to $363.

Nearby ground floor retail rents in the West Village are actually down, the report showed, with an eight percent decrease since spring of last year. The range of rents is similar, however, with $375 on the low end and $600 at the cap.

And the SoHo Broadway corridor between Houston and Broome Streets, where longtime stalwart Pearl River Mart was recently pushed out due to rising rent, saw one of the higher spikes: 18 percent from fall 2014, when rents were $830 per square foot, to spring 2015, with rents now at $977 per square foot.

The full report can be found here, but here are some highlights:

MOST EXPENSIVE: Fifth Avenue between 49th Street and 59th Street in Midtown, at $3,683 per square foot.

LEAST EXPENSIVE: Financial District, along Broadway from Battery Park to Chambers Street, now at $234.

BIGGEST DECREASE: Financial District, along Broadway from Battery Park to Chambers Street, down 12 percent from fall 2014, when it was $265 per square foot.

HIGHEST INCREASE: 60 percent on East 57th Street, from Park Avenue to Fifth Avenue. Was $1,000 in spring 2014, now $1,600 in spring 2015.