The Main Streets Across The World report by Cushman & Wakefield found that high levels of demand for New Bond Street coupled with low availability fuelled an 11.5 per cent hike in rents in the past 12 months. Prime units on the street now command an average US$814 (£394) a sq ft (£4,241 a sq m) a year. Dollars are the base currency in the report, for international comparison.
Luxury jewellery retailers dominate the more expensive southern end of New Bond Street. New entrants this year include German brand Wempe and UK retailer Boodles, as well as Anya Hindmarch and Italian label Cornilliani. Louis Vuitton is to double the size of its existing store to create a flagship Louis Vuitton Maison.
Cushman & Wakefield retail partner Peter Mace said: “The turmoil in global financial markets is unlikely to hit the demand for luxury goods and we anticipate New Bond Street and other prime pitches to show further rental growth into next year.
“While some of the more secondary shopping streets in the capital may be less immune to the credit crunch, we are confident that the high number of UK and international retailers looking for outlets in central London’s main thoroughfares will help sustain market activity in the next few months.”
New York remains the world’s most expensive shopping destination, with an average 1,000 sq ft (95 sq m) unit on Fifth Avenue, between the junctions of 49th and 59th Street, costing a total of about US$1.5 million (£726,700) a year in rent. This is up 11 per cent on last year.
The second most expensive is Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, which costs an average of US$1,213 (£596) a sq ft (£6,414 a sq m) a year, followed by Avenue des Champs-Elysées at US$922 (£447) a sq ft (£4,812 a sq m) a year. New Bond Street is fourth, just above Ginza in Tokyo, which averages US$683 (£331) a sq ft (£3,563 a sq m) a year.
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