Cushman & Wakefield has published its annual report on the most expensive streets in the world. 3 Maja St. in Katowice has not retained the last year’s fifth position, however the street is still in the top ten in Poland.
3 Maja was the fifth most expensive street in Poland for four consecutive years (2010-2013). The street took its highest position in 2009, when it was ranked third and retailers had to pay EUR 780 per one square meter yearly. The annual rent has been falling since that time. According to the latest version of the report, the Katowice street is now seventh most expensive retail location in Poland. Annual rents declined by 5,4% and amount to EUR 636 per one sq. meter in 2014 (EUR 672 sq.m/year in 2013). It means the annual rent is almost EUR 150 lower than in the peak in 2009.
„3 Maja witnessed a downturn trend in rents. It is a temporary tendency caused by the opening of Galeria Katowicka. In the long term perspective, investments contribute to the City center revival and attract customers” – says Tomasz Górski, senior negotiator in the retail department of Cushman & Wakefield.
The situation was already expected a year ago. „As a matter of course, the opening of the shopping center of this size has to involve changes on the street – some of the tenants will decide to move into the mall and close shops on 3 Maja. However, in the long term perspective, the abandoned units will be replaced by new tenants who are not able to rent retail spaces in the mall for many reasons. That is why the whole City center will benefit from the situation” – he told to katowicethecity.com last year (full interview here).
3 Maja has been modernized since September 2012 when new tram tracks, surfaces, street furnitures and greenery were provided. The works were delivered in October this year.
If compare other retail streets across the globe, similar annual rents to 3 Maja are registered in following locations: Rue Verdum – EUR 633 sq.m/year in Beirut (Lebabon), J.M. Road – EUR 629 sq.m/year in Pune and Fort/Fountain – EUR 621 sq.m/year in Mumbai (both India), as well as at 5th Avenue – EUR 613 sq.m/year in San Diego (USA).
Nowy Świat in Warsaw remains the most expensive street in Poland (EUR 1020 sq.m/year). New York’s Upper 5th Avenue is the world’s most expensive shopping street where retailers can expect to pay EUR 29 822 per sq. meter per annum.
Data for retail rents has been collected as at September 2014 from 330 locations across 65 countries around the world. For the purposes of this survey, the standard main street unit is defined as a unit with 150-200 sq. meters of sales area.