Cash-rich retailers are scrapping for a slice of NYC's best avenues
Retail leasing velocity across the city is up 14%, year over year. That represents over 3.5 million square feet of new leases and renewals — and according to CBRE, the number of available storefronts on the main shopping streets has dropped.
That's good news for shoppers — but a tough break for stores that want the better locations. It's a situation that parallels Manhattan's divided office market, said Lee Block of Winick Realty Group. Retailers want better spaces and are willing to pay top dollar for them.
5 Meow Wolf nabbed over 74,000 square feet at Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport.
Keeyahtay Lewis
'The flight to quality has been a big theme in the office world, and it also works in the retail world,' said Block, referring to the demand for luxury offices that is spilling over to some Class B buildings but leaving most C owners in the lurch while spurring residential conversions.
Adding to the competition are new to NYC retailers, who inked 24 deals that gobbled up 205,000 square feet just in the first quarter, according to CBRE.
For instance, the immersive art experience, Meow Wolf, leased over 74,000 square feet at Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport for its first NYC location. And Seaview Productions, the group behind George Clooney's 'Good Night and Good Luck,' leased the vacant 16,679-square-foot former Second Stage theater at 681 Eighth Ave. near Times Square.
5 Times Square had always been a nest for major league retailers like Sephora.
Tamara Beckwith
If fact, Times Square has always been a target for large retailers, with shops like Sephora open until 11 p.m. to service late-day, pre- and après-Broadway show crowds. 'It's the busiest place,' declared Gene Spiegelman of Ripco.
At the end of last year, Lincoln Market signed to bring its supermarket to a 35,809-square-foot space left by Lucky Strike bowling at Silverstein Properties' River Place at 650 W. 42nd St.
Nevertheless, Times Square still has massive holes, such as the 91,000 square feet that Forever 21 will give up at Vornado's 1540 Broadway and 58,000 square feet ABC is leaving at 1500 Broadway.
5 Forever isn't forever in Times Square.
Reuters
Another sign of life comes from the Manhattan's ultra-competitive restauranteurs who ate up 171,000 square feet in 39 Manhattan deals. Among them is Michelin chef Masaharu Morimoto who will occupy 17,600 square feet at 1255 Broadway in Nomad. Chicago's Michelin steakhouse Maple & Ash leased nearly 17,000 square feet at Vornado's 1290 Ave. of the Americas and STK will open in 12,600 square feet at 200 Park Ave. South.
Old Navy is giving up 150 W. 34th St. to Primark so it can move to 55,000 square feet on corner of Herald Square at 50 W. 34th St.
Looking further downtown, vacancies along Broadway in Soho are nearly extinct.
5 Chef Masaharu Morimoto will occupy 17,600 square feet at 1255 Broadway.
Google Earth
Crocs leased a new flagship at 543 Broadway, and New Balance will hop into 542 Broadway. Calvin Klein signed to open a flagship at 530 Broadway and GU opened at 668-678 Broadway. The Chinese-based, fast-fashion brand Urban Revivo opened its first US store in 30,000 square feet at 515 Broadway.
'Global brands stiltl consider New York the launch pad for expanding their businesses,' said Spiegelman who represented Urban Revivo. 'The top of their list is Soho.'
Adidas will relocate its flagship from 115 Spring to 8,700 square feet at 135 Spring. Ray-Ban renewed its 7,000 square feet at 116 Wooster and is building out a new global flagship at 62 Prince. Additionally, 7 For All Mankind's denims renewed 5,500 square feet at 392 W. Broadway.
5 Soho is fast becoming the premier place to shop in Manhattan.
Getty Images
As higher-priced space was leased, rents on prime Prince Street dropped to $750 per foot, down 24% quarter-over-quarter and 30% year-over-year, according to CBRE.
The competition for the best Soho spaces is now so fierce that even the biggest fish are being out bid. For instance, LVMH is hunting for a corner location for Tiffany & Co. (now at 97 Green St.) — but it's already lost out on spaces like the new Ferrari former Nespresso space location at 92 Prince St. which may have leased for $1,800 per foot, the Apple location at 103 Prince and Ralph Lauren's digs at 109 Prince which the retailer just bought for $132 million.
'Everyone is keenly aware and the uncertainty is having an impact.' Matthew Siegel of Lantern Real Estate
'It's hard to find space on Prince, Greene or Spring — you almost have to pay key money,' said Richard Hodos of JLL.
Like Ralph Lauren, some stores are tired of playing games. They're simply buying their space outright.
To capitalize on the frenzy of both investors and retailers trying to lock in prime locations, CBRE is offering 115 Spring for sale on behalf of SL Green as the 5,100-square-foot, two-level store will be vacant when Adidas relocates to 135 Spring next March. Uptown, Chanel is in talks to buy 60,000 square feet in the base of Gary Barnett's upcoming luxury residential tower at 655 Madison Ave., according to the Commercial Observer and, if that goes sideways, could turn to Related tower on the next block at 625 Madison or return to its first choice of the former Barney's at 660 Madison should the families that own the building realign their future goals.
Meanwhile, B&H Photo paid $150 million to buy 333 W. 34th St.
Even so, stock market gyrations over global tariffs are still top of everyone's minds.
'We are seeing our clients preparing for the impact and implications of the tariffs on both consumer behavior and input costs,' said Matthew Siegel of Lantern Real Estate. 'Everyone is keenly aware and the uncertainty is having an impact.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
15 hours ago
- New York Post
Why top NYC restaurants are bringing in famed chefs from around the world
Top New York City restaurants are increasingly turning to collaborations with renowned chefs from around the globe to boost business and stand out from high-end rivals, Side Dish has learned. The collabs, while not a new phenomenon, have taken on added importance as President Trump's tariffs create challenges for chefs to source some of their favorite ingredients. However, importing talent from all corners of the globe – which at popular Tribeca haunt l'abeille means bringing in chefs from England, France, Belgium, Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand – remains tax-free. 7 l'abeille in Tribeca is importing talent from all corners of the globe. Eric Vitale Photography 'Global residences help everyone grow and learn — from the guests to the staff. They keep the restaurant interesting,' said Howard Chang, co-owner of Kuma Hospitality Group's l'abeille with partners Rahul Saito and executive chef Mitsunobu Nagae. The dinners these top chefs serve up at ticketed events aren't cheap. At a recent, prix-fixe collab dinner at l'abeille, Nagae worked with London-based chef Chet Sharma, who studied physics at Oxford and now helms the standout Indian-themed restaurant BiBi in London's swanky Mayfair neighborhood. The meal cost $325, with an additional $295 for wine pairings. The exclusive events, however, often don't bring in more money than regular a la carte dinners, restaurateurs told Side Dish. That's because the higher prices are offset by the cost of flying in the foreign-based chefs, along with some of their team members, and putting them all up in hotels. 7 Chet Sharma, left, and Mitsunobu Nagae collaborated on a prix-fixe dinner. Eric Vitale Photography 7 The collabs, while not a new phenomenon, have taken on added importance as President Trump's tariffs create challenges for chefs to source some of their favorite ingredients. Eric Vitale Photography The upside, they say, is that global collabs raise the restaurants' profiles, bring in new diners and offer educational benefits for staff. On the Upper East Side, Sushi Noz's executive chef Nozomu Abe is bringing in Michelin-starred Chef Endo Kazutoshi, a third-generation sushi master who trained in Japan before opening his namesake restaurant, Endo, at the Rotunda in London. 7 At Sushi Noz on the Upper East Side, executive chef Nozomu Abe, left, is bringing in Michelin-starred Chef Endo Kazutoshi. Hannah Wyatt Last week, the pair offered a rare collaborative omakase where they presented their culinary visions through the use of local fish and other influences. 'We started the Japan series in 2019,' said Hannah Wyatt, Sushi Noz's operations manager. 'Our goal was to showcase top chefs from Japan through collaborative dinners with chef Noz, with a focus on sushi and kaiseki chefs at the top of their respective fields.' In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the owners of Layla's began bringing in chefs during COVID and continue to have pop-ups for 'brand exposure.' 7 The dinners these top chefs serve up at ticketed events aren't cheap. Eric Vitale Photography 7 The exclusive events, however, often don't bring in more money than regular a la carte dinners, restaurateurs told Side Dish. Eric Vitale Photography The most recent international collab involved chef Kyle Garry and chef Whyte Rushen of Whyte's in London, who is now on a 'worldwide' tour. 'We did it once, and it was really successful and fun and now it's something we try to do as often as we can,' Samuel Lynch, one of Layla's co-owners along with Stefano D'Orsogna and David Lacey, told Side Dish. The trend has even extended to the Hamptons, where Mavericks Montauk will welcome the crew from Michelin-starred Parisian restaurant Contraste on July 31. 7 The upside, they say, is that global collabs raise the restaurants' profiles, bring in new diners and offer educational benefits for staff. Interior of l'abeille, above. Eric Vitale Photography The collaboration was made possible by the deep-rooted friendship between Mavericks' pastry chef Remy Ertaud and Contraste's Louis De Vicari. We hear … that celeb chef Scott Conant is opening a posh new Italian restaurant, Leola, in the Bahamas at Baha Mar this fall. Leola will be on the casino level of Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, joining hotspots including Jon Batiste's Jazz Club, Marcus Samuelsson's Marcus at Baha Mar Fish + Chop House, Daniel Boulud's Cafe Boulud, and Dario Cecchini's Carna. The 8,800 square foot space comes with 106 seats in the main dining room and 130 seats outside. 'Bringing Leola to life at Baha Mar is something I've dreamed about for a long time,' Conant said. 'I've always been inspired by the beauty and spirit of the Bahamas, and it felt like the perfect place to create a restaurant that's both personal and inviting. With Leola, we're blending the kind of food and hospitality I love—warm, soulful, and rooted in connection.' Conant will also participate in the Fourth Annual Bahamas Culinary & Arts Festival, which runs from Oct. 22-26.
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business Insider
These 11 companies have left California over the years
McKesson Corp. Pharmaceutical giant McKesson left California in 2019. In terms of public companies, only Apple loomed larger in the Bay Area. Then-CEO John H. Hammergren said that McKesson was moving its headquarters to Las Colinas, Texas (near Dallas) to "improve efficiency, collaboration and cost-competitiveness, while providing an exceptional work environment for our employees." Chevron Oil giant Chevron had deep roots in California, going back to the 1870s when an early predecessor discovered oil north of Los Angeles. That didn't stop the company from moving to Houston in 2024. Looking back on its move, the energy giant says that California's leaders have taken steps that made it "unappealing." "While our relocation has very real benefits to our business, we also believe California policymakers have pursued policies that raise costs and consumer prices, creating a hardship for all Californians, especially those who can least afford it," Ross Allen, a spokesperson for Chevron, said in a statement to Business Insider. "These policies have also made California investment unappealing compared with opportunities elsewhere in the US and globally." Tesla Like some of his fellow tech CEOs, Elon Musk grew frustrated with the limitations of the Bay area before Tesla left for Austin in 2021. "There's a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area," Musk said at the time. Before the move, Musk had also clashed with officials over keeping Tesla's Fremont, California, factory open despite COVID-19 orders. Oracle In 2020, Oracle left its longtime home in California. The computer technology giant isn't done moving yet. Last year, CEO Larry Ellison said the computer technology giant would move its headquarters from Austin, where it had been for less than half a decade, to Tennessee. "Nashville is a fabulous place to live," Ellison said, according to an Associated Press report. "It's a great place to raise a family. It's got a unique and vibrant culture .... It's the center of the industry we're most concerned about, which is the health care industry." CBRE Global real estate company CBRE monitors the number of companies leaving California. The firm itself left Los Angeles in 2020. "Designating Dallas as CBRE's global corporate headquarters formalizes how our company has been operating for the past eight years," Lew Horne, head of operations in the Southwest, said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times in 2020. Charles Schwab Charles Schwab left for Westlake, Texas, in 2019 after it agreed to buy Omaha-based TD Ameritrade. Schwab chairman and founder Charles Schwab singled out the business climate in California as motivation for the move: "The costs of doing business here are so much higher than some other place" he told Forbes. The companies said in a joint statement that their new home would "allow the combined firm to take advantage of the central location of the new Schwab campus." In 2023, SFGate reported that Schwab further reduced its presence in San Francisco, its former home. "We've had an extremely positive experience in Texas," a spokesperson from Schwab said in a statement to BI. "From day one, the energy, innovation, and welcoming spirit of North Texas has far exceeded our expectations." Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) In 2020, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced it was leaving California, another COVID-19 era departure. "Houston is also an attractive market for us to recruit and retain talent, and a great place to do business," CEO Antonio Neri said in a statement announcing the move. Neri praised HPE's new home in Spring, Texas (a Houston suburb), but stressed that the company was not leaving Silicon Valley entirely. "Our San Jose campus will remain a hub for technological talent and innovation," he said. Palantir Software giant Palantir left Silicon Valley in 2020. Before the tech company moved, CEO Alex Karp said he had concerns about California. "I'm pretty happy outside the monoculture in New Hampshire," Karp told Axios in May 2020 when asked if he would move back to California as the COVID-19 pandemic was receding. Karp said at the time that Palantir was narrowing down its list of future homes, which potentially included Colorado. Palantir has been in Denver since August 2020. SpaceX Elon Musk promised to move SpaceX to Texas in 2024, part of a series of announcements that positioned his companies away from California. In announcing SpaceX's relocation, Musk singled out a California law that forbids schools from requiring staff to inform parents of a student's gender identity. "This is the final straw," Musk wrote on X in July 2024. "Because of this law and the many others that preceded it, attacking both families and companies, SpaceX will now move its HQ from Hawthorne, California, to Starbase, Texas." AECOM Global consultancy firm AECOM left Los Angeles in 2021, saying that Texas offered more benefits. "Dallas has emerged as a US hub for corporate headquarters and a compelling corporate talent magnet, particularly among our peers and public companies in the engineering and consulting sectors," a company spokesperson told The LA Times. FICO Financial data analytics firm FICO, officially known as the Fair Isaac Corporation, quietly moved to Bozeman, Montana, sometime in 2021. The company, best known for its FICO score, previously moved its corporate headquarters from Minneapolis to San Jose in 2013.
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business Insider
The drink of the summer is a sign of a recession
Every year, it feels like there are multiple claimants to the title of "drink of the summer." For the fancy, maybe 2025 is the year of the Hugo spritz. But if your finances are a little more stretched, which a lot of people's are, you might be opting for this year's more economical option: the Spaghett. Also known as the NASCAR spritz, the hobo Negroni, or the trailer park spritz, the drink consists of a bottled beer — often a Miller High Life — topped up with a splash of Aperol and maybe some lemon juice (a lot of people don't bother with the last bit). It's a way to fancy up your drink without fancying up the price tag too much. And the Spaghett's popularity has been on the rise, as more drinkers feel increasing pressure on their wallets. Recession indicator? Maybe. Let's call it the recession Aperol spritz. Data from the payments platform Square shows that orders for Spaghetts in the first half of 2025 are up by 65% from last year, and since 2022, Spaghett orders are up by 1000%. The number of Spaghetts showing up on bar receipts has risen over the past five years, per Square's data. Google searches for Spaghetts have spiked this summer. Much of the interest is organic — Spaghetts are appearing more on menus, they're easy to make at home, and the word is spreading about their existence, both on social media and in real life. There's also been a corporate effort to make Spaghetts more of a thing. Miller High Life introduced the Spaghett-sicle in July, a push-pop version of the drink. Though, the $79 price tag for a six-pack is not as wallet-friendly as the regular version you'd find at a local dive or the one you could concoct in your kitchen. Given that an Aperol spritz could easily run you $15, the cost of the knock-off beer version is part of the draw. "Sparkling wine comes with that assumed price tag because it doesn't really matter what people are paying for it on the backend; they're still going to charge you a fair amount," says Tom Brander, the beverage director at Wilder, a restaurant in Philadelphia. "At a dive bar, you can just get a little bit of Aperol." The origin of the Spaghett can be traced back to Wet City Brewing in Baltimore in the mid-2010s, where a bartender created it as a sort of " bastardized Aperol spritz." Part of the Spaghett's allure has been that it's familiar to those who work in bars and restaurants. It's sort of a secret menu item. Stuart Wellington, the owner of Hinterlands, Minnie's, and Commonwealth in Brooklyn, jokes it's a drink for "service industry nerds and other weirdos that are in the know." It trickled out across the city, region, and eventually the country from there, getting a Bon Appétit writeup in 2019. "Nobody could have foreseen that this silly little one-off cocktail would be this big," says Alexander Rudy, a bartender in Austin who used to live in Baltimore. "It's kind of like an industry handshake." Jacquelyn Caldwell, an associate brand marketing manager for Miller High Life, says the brand has seen the Spaghett gain "steady momentum," especially over the past year. "It started as a bartender favorite in dive bars — mixed directly in the High Life bottle, no frills, just great flavor. From there, it evolved from an under-the-radar pick to a popular choice," she says. There are a lot of facets to the Spaghett's appeal. It's simple to make — you crack open a beer, maybe pour a little out or drink one swig, and then just toss in a half a shot of Aperol. The aperitif adds complexity to a drink without a lot of effort. While it's typically created with a High Life, you can attempt it with other beers, too. One bartender tells me Aperol in a hazy IPA is "fire." The people serving them up also appreciate the simplicity. "Pricier drinks take time to assemble, so the ability to churn out a round of drinks quickly, even if they are less expensive, is important when it is busy," says Frederic Yarm, a bartender and writer in Boston. In an era of more people watching their alcohol intake, the Spaghett has a relatively low ABV compared with a lot of other options. The drink is a sort of orangey-pink, it plays into the bottled cocktail trend, and it's just kind of fun to say the word "Spaghett." "With the popularity of the Aperol spritz, you can only have so many until you're ready to venture into the next thing," says Julianna McIntosh, the founder of Join Jules, a cocktail blog, and the author of the book "Pretty Simple Cocktails." It's a lot of guys who drink Spaghetts, but it appeals to women, too. "It's a way easier way for, I would say, to get the female demographic into beer," McIntosh says. Chances are, you're not going to find a Spaghett on the menu at a high-end cocktail bar or expensive restaurant. It's one you come across in dive bars and more middle-of-the-road establishments, if it's on the menu at all — a lot of the time, you just have to ask for it. When Mawuli Grant Agbefe, a substitute teacher and Spaghett fan in Chicago, first started ordering Spaghetts, he'd sometimes have to explain what it was to the bartender. But he's started to notice it pop up on menus over the past year or two. He likes the taste, and he thinks it's an especially good option when it's hot out. "Before I got into the Spaghett, I liked the Miller High Life plain, but after a bunch of High Life over the years, you kind of want to gussy it up sometimes," he says. Part of the charm of beer cocktails is making something not special a little special. The other part of the equation: the price. Trading down from an Aperol spritz to a Spaghett usually puts a few bills back in your pocket, while swapping a regular beer for a Spaghett isn't going to break the bank, especially if the regular beer is cheap to begin with. Wellington, the Brooklyn bar owner, calls Miller High Life his "recession beer." "I've definitely noticed within a certain portion of my, let's say, moderately employed regulars, they went from drinking draft beer to switching over to just drinking High Lifes," he says. His average weekly order of High Life has gone up "considerably" over the past five years. Wellington has a buddy who has a full Spaghett setup at home, complete with a premixed squeeze bottle of Aperol and lime juice. Though he felt like they really hit last summer, he still sees them around and orders them himself. The idea of turning a beer into a Spaghett "has a little bit of, 'Oh, we're going something fun today,'" he says. The Spaghett is also cheaper than the other bar insider's secret combo — a beer and a shot of Fernet. "As consumers are looking to pull back a bit on spending and shift to lower ABV beverages, we've seen a rise in the popularity of beer cocktails — across restaurants on Square, orders for Spaghetts and other beer and spirit mixes have been increasing over the past few years," says Ming-Tai Huh, the head of food and beverage at Square. After a bunch of High Life over the years, you kind of want to gussy it up sometimes. When I ask bartenders how much they charge people for the Spaghett, particularly if it's not on the menu, most of them laugh. One says they'll add a dollar or two onto the price of the beer they use as the base. Another says they may double the price of the already-inexpensive beer, or add the Aperol on as a shot. Others admit it's a bit of an it-depends situation — they might just let the splash of Aperol go and charge only the beer. When people are nervous about the economy, they start to look for ways to get more bang for their buck. They trade restaurant visits for meals at home. They switch international vacations for more local destinations. Alcohol can be a place where people do some amount of splurging — who among us has been at a bar and had a drink or two more than anticipated? But they also find ways to cut corners. They buy alcohol in smaller bottles, or they try to find options that still do the trick, inebriation-wise, without breaking the bank. I'm not really a beer gal, and until recently, I had not heard of the Spaghett. I did go try one at a local bar, and let's just say it's not for me. But it is for plenty of other people. When I mentioned it to a coworker, they sent me a picture of their pink-hued High Life from the Fourth of July weekend. At a work event, I brought Spaghetts up to a stranger in passing, and he raved about them — this summer, they're his main drink. And whatever your liquor proclivities, once you start to notice a beer cocktail in one place, you notice them everywhere — the Corona sunrise, the beermosa, the lagerita, the shandy. Beer companies are finding ways to zhuzh it up for price-conscious drinkers in other ways, too, and consumers are biting. Garage Beer, a Midwestern beer startup backed by the Kelce brothers, says its lime version is now outselling its regular light version. As much as Americans are becoming more conscious about their drinking habits, they're still drinking plenty. And in many cases, they're seeking cheaper ways to do it. After all, a lot of the reason Gen Z has been late to booze is that they can't afford it. After years of inflation, economic turmoil, and now, tariffs, consumers are strained. They're finding ways to stretch their buck, whether that's stocking up on frozen pizza or buying fewer snacks. When they do imbibe, many are looking for lower-cost options. The Spaghett is budget-friendly while still a little fun. And if it sounds a little gross, McIntosh says to give it a whirl anyway — you might be surprised. "Don't knock it till you try it," she says. "It's actually really, really fun."
