Russell Street, in the city’s central Causeway Bay district, has replaced New York’s Upper 5th Avenue as the world’s most expensive retail street by rental value, according to property consultants Cushman & Wakefield.
Vitosha Boulevard is on 47th place for the most expensive commercial street in the world for this year. It climbs to its highest position for the past five years.
The annual Main Streets Across The World report, celebrating its 30th anniversary, tracks 446 of the top retail streets around the globe and ranks the most expensive in 65 countries by prime rental value utilizing Cushman & Wakefield's proprietary data.
For this year Vitosha climbs two places up with an average monthly rental on commercial areas of EUR 50 per square meter.
''In Sofia, Vitosha Boulevard enjoys a constant interest in opening new shops and restaurants in recent years, and this is also the basis for the rent growth we are seeing, especially when the locations are with better visibility and they are demanded by traders", said Ivan Gramatikov, who is the Sales Manager at Cushman & Wakefield.
Russell Street, in the city’s central Causeway Bay district, has replaced New York’s Upper 5th Avenue as the world’s most expensive retail street by rental value, according to property consultants Cushman & Wakefield.
,671 per sq. ft. is the annual rent on Russell Street, Hong Kong
It’s the first time in five years that the city has earned the dubious honor, with average annual rents of ,671 per square foot. That’s despite a small decline of in average rents, according to the company’s annual Main Streets Across the World report, released on Wednesday morning.
It marks the sixth time Causeway Bay has been named the world’s most expensive retail location.
That's on top of world records for the world’s most expensive parking space and the most expensive residential property in the world.
What's driving the records? Rich Chinese tourists.
“The retail market in Hong Kong has experienced a rebound over the last year, driven mainly by a return of mainland Chinese tourists,” said Kevin Lam, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of retail services for Hong Kong.
“With encouraging signs in tourist arrivals and retail sales during the first half of 2018, especially in the watch and jewellery category, luxury brand operators have shown interest in re-entering the market.”
Why Russell Street?
This narrow road isn’t all glam, says Adam White
You wouldn’t necessarily expect Russell Street to bring in the megabucks. See, it’s not a very long street. One side of it consists of the Times Square shopping mall and office towers – where Inkstone is based, as a matter of fact.
But it’s the other side of the street that the money flows. Prada, Rolex, Mont Blanc, Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Burberry, Omega, Patek Philippe… that side is home to more overt displays of wealth than a Donald Trump country club.
It’s here that buses disgorge their payloads of well-to-do tourists from the Chinese mainland – with the emphasis on “pay.”
But the street is still inimitably Hong Kong. At one end, a curried fishball stall serves up the city’s most iconic street snack. Hidden down a narrow alleyway is a slightly grungy cafe which makes a pretty mean flat white.
And opposite the taxi stand, above a posh skincare store, is the disconcertingly bright LED billboard of a sex shop, always sure to catch your eye at the end of a long day.
The report, now in its 30th year, tracks 446 of the top retail streets in 65 countries and regions, ranking them by their prime rental value as of the second quarter of 2018.
Upper 5th Avenue slipped to second place globally, with average annual rents of ,250 per square foot, down 25% on the previous 12-month period, as vacancy increased.
London’s New Bond Street came in third, broadly unchanged at ,744 per square foot,
Meanwhile, mainland China’s highest entry on the list was Beijing’s Wangfujing, which came in at 11th with rents averaging 2 per square foot per year.
The top five
The five most expensive retail streets in the world, according to the Main Streets Across the World report.
- Russell Street, Hong Kong
- Upper 5th Avenue, New York
- New Bond Street, London
- Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris
- Via Montenapoleone, Milan
Vitosha Boulevard is on 47th place for the most expensive commercial street in the world for this year. It climbs to its highest position for the past five years.
The annual Main Streets Across The World report, celebrating its 30th anniversary, tracks 446 of the top retail streets around the globe and ranks the most expensive in 65 countries by prime rental value utilizing Cushman & Wakefield's proprietary data.
For this year Vitosha climbs two places up with an average monthly rental on commercial areas of EUR 50 per square meter.
''In Sofia, Vitosha Boulevard enjoys a constant interest in opening new shops and restaurants in recent years, and this is also the basis for the rent growth we are seeing, especially when the locations are with better visibility and they are demanded by traders", said Ivan Gramatikov, who is the Sales Manager at Cushman & Wakefield.
,671 per sq. ft. is the annual rent on Russell Street, Hong Kong
It’s the first time in five years that the city has earned the dubious honor, with average annual rents of ,671 per square foot. That’s despite a small decline of in average rents, according to the company’s annual Main Streets Across the World report, released on Wednesday morning.
It marks the sixth time Causeway Bay has been named the world’s most expensive retail location.
That's on top of world records for the world’s most expensive parking space and the most expensive residential property in the world.
What's driving the records? Rich Chinese tourists.
“The retail market in Hong Kong has experienced a rebound over the last year, driven mainly by a return of mainland Chinese tourists,” said Kevin Lam, Cushman & Wakefield’s head of retail services for Hong Kong.
“With encouraging signs in tourist arrivals and retail sales during the first half of 2018, especially in the watch and jewellery category, luxury brand operators have shown interest in re-entering the market.”
Why Russell Street?This narrow road isn’t all glam, says Adam WhiteYou wouldn’t necessarily expect Russell Street to bring in the megabucks. See, it’s not a very long street. One side of it consists of the Times Square shopping mall and office towers – where Inkstone is based, as a matter of fact.But it’s the other side of the street that the money flows. Prada, Rolex, Mont Blanc, Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Burberry, Omega, Patek Philippe… that side is home to more overt displays of wealth than a Donald Trump country club.It’s here that buses disgorge their payloads of well-to-do tourists from the Chinese mainland – with the emphasis on “pay.”But the street is still inimitably Hong Kong. At one end, a curried fishball stall serves up the city’s most iconic street snack. Hidden down a narrow alleyway is a slightly grungy cafe which makes a pretty mean flat white.And opposite the taxi stand, above a posh skincare store, is the disconcertingly bright LED billboard of a sex shop, always sure to catch your eye at the end of a long day.The report, now in its 30th year, tracks 446 of the top retail streets in 65 countries and regions, ranking them by their prime rental value as of the second quarter of 2018.
Upper 5th Avenue slipped to second place globally, with average annual rents of ,250 per square foot, down 25% on the previous 12-month period, as vacancy increased.
London’s New Bond Street came in third, broadly unchanged at ,744 per square foot,
Meanwhile, mainland China’s highest entry on the list was Beijing’s Wangfujing, which came in at 11th with rents averaging 2 per square foot per year.
The top fiveThe five most expensive retail streets in the world, according to the Main Streets Across the World report.
- Russell Street, Hong Kong
- Upper 5th Avenue, New York
- New Bond Street, London
- Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris
- Via Montenapoleone, Milan
