Retail rents are falling in most of Manhattan's top shopping corridors

Crain's New York Business reports:

Empty storefronts along some of Manhattan's best-known shopping corridors has landlords lowering rents.

A report Wednesday from the Real Estate Board of New York found that average asking rents for ground-floor retail spaces this spring are down from in 12 of Manhattan's 17 commercial corridors, compared to the same point last year. The Madison Avenue shopping corridor on the Upper East Side—between 57th and 72nd streets— was hit hardest, with rents declining 25% year-over-year to $1,039 per square foot.

Rents are rapidly falling on Fifth Avenue as well, where retailers such as Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Versace and Lululemon have closed up shop in the last year. The Fifth Avenue shopping district between 49th and 59th streets still hosts the priciest retail space in the borough, with landlords asking $3,047 per square foot on average. But that number is down 22% from last spring, the second steepest decline in Manhattan.

The demand for square footage.