In the second quarter of 2024, New York City experienced a significant decrease in its average prime availability rate, reaching a record low of 15.3%. This is a notable improvement from the rates seen in 2019 (21%) and at its peak in 2021 (28%), according to JLL’s Q2 NYC retail report. Madison Avenue saw an impressive decline in availability, dropping from 16.0% to just 5.3% compared to Q2 ’23. Similarly, Lower Fifth Avenue also decreased significantly from last year’s rate of 21%, now standing at only11.3%. However, Upper Fifth Ave recorded an increase with availability rising to17.l % after hitting a record low of10%inQ2’23.
The average prime asking rents also showed positive growth during this period as they rose by6%, reaching $548inQ2’24comparedto$517inQ2’23.UpperFifthAvenue stood out with rent increases up by11 .6%, now averaging $2350 per square foot since Q1 ’23.MadisonAvenuealsoexperienceda noteworthy riseofll.Oo/o,reachinganaverageof$971per square foot.
Despite higher hotel rates post-pandemic,tourismreboundedwithasteadyflowofinternationalvisitorsfromEuropeandSouthAmerica.Notably,the suspensionoftollpricingforvehiclesenteringlowerManhattancombinedwiththe trendoffewerretailanddiningspendingoffsetthehigherhotelcosts.These developments contributedtothepostNYCprimetetailavailabilitydroppingtoa newrecordlow.ThisisaccordingtorecentfindingsbyConnectCRE,aleadingcommercial realestateplatformthatprovidesexpertinsightsintothisindustry.
