SYDNEY: It’s not quite New York’s Fifth Avenue, but Sydney’s Pitt Street is climbing the ranks of the world’s most expensive retail strips by rent and now pips the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Pitt Street
A survey of the top 278 shopping locations in 63 countries by global real estate company Cushman Wakefield found that in most places prime rents had risen or remained stable in the 12 months to June.
New York’s Fifth Avenue held its place as the most expensive shopping street in the world for the 10th year running, with Hong Kong’s frenetic Causeway Bay in second and Tokyo’s Ginza third.
Sydney’s Pitt Street was the surprise bolter, shooting up from ninth to fourth on the table of the most expensive shopping strips in each country with rents in the pedestrian street soaring by 33.3 per cent year-on-year.
France’s most famous street, the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris, was in fifth position, followed by London’s New Bond Street.
David Woolford, Cushman & Wakefield’s managing director in Australia, said Pitt Street had undergone a transformation over the past year with two major developments now completed.
“This has created a new super prime precinct characterised by larger footprint stores and an influx of high profile international brands,” he said.
Australia was suffering from a retail slump, despite the Australian dollar enjoying a record strength against the US dollar, but rents in the precinct consistently reached A$10,000 (US$10,700) per square metre with some as high as A$13,000 per square metre. — AFP