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Spring 2009
Stephen M. Ross,ChairpersonSteven Spinola,President
570 Lexington Avenue / New York, NY10022 / 212.532.3100www.rebny.com
 
Spring 2009
1
M
anhattan average asking rents for allavailable space declined 11 percent fromthe Fall 2008 to $115. Each of the borough’ssix geographic areas showed a decline in theaverage asking rent for all available space,ranging from 6 percent in Midtown to 22 per-cent on the West Side compared to six monthsearlier. Double digit declines in the averageasking rent for all available space were reportedon the East Side (12 percent), Midtown South(14 percent), Downtown and Upper Manhattan(13 percent).These declines in the average asking rent for all space are from market highs in the fall 2008.In most cases, the average rents for Manhattanand the borough’s six geographic areas are com- parable to asking rents from a year ago.Since September 2008, the turmoil in thefinancial markets has reverberated through thereal estate industry and the retail market.Despite this uncertainty, our Advisory Groupreports that leasing activity is occurringthroughout Manhattan. More interestingly, newretail tenants are looking at store space in NewYork for the first time. No doubt declining prices are attracting tenants for whom the city is becoming more affordable.The average asking rent for ground floor space in many of the major retail corridorshighlighted in the report likewise showeddeclines compared to Fall 2008. MadisonAvenue declined 14 percent, Broadway on theUpper West Side declined 5 percent and FifthAvenue in the 50s fell 3 percent from Fall 2008.In a few corridors, such as Fifth Avenue inthe Flatiron District and Broadway in SoHo, theaverage asking rent for ground floor spaceshowed a modest gain. Our Advisory Groupnoted that in this economy owners are uncertainabout what is an appropriate asking rent.Hence, they do not modify the asking rentwhich could have been set as much as a year ago. Instead, they would offer a longer freerent period and a more generous build outallowance. These economic incentives varyfrom owner to owner.Afew years ago, in our meeting to reviewour report, our Advisory Group began toexpress concern about the steep rise in askingrents. They believed that asking rent increasesin the major retail corridors in Manhattan wereoutpacing overall economic growth and ques-tioned the sustainability of these asking rentincreases. Accordingly, they see the recentdecline in asking rents as an anticipated marketcorrection in a market that was experiencingunsustainable rent growth.In our tumultuous economy it is crucial toexamine all the asking rent information—aver-age, median and range of ground floor space— in assessing the market conditions of an indi-vidual major retail corridor and evaluating ask-ing rents for individual stores.An emerging issue identified by our Advisory Group is the rise in sublet space. Inearlier reports, this sublet space was virtuallyindistinguishable from space marketed directly by the landlord and was included in our reports.Going forward, our Advisory will be examiningthe asking rents for sublet space listings. Thoselistings that reflect market conditions (compara- ble rent with a term of 7 years or more) in a par-ticular location will be included. In situationswhere there are sublet listings with shorter leaseterms we will attempt to determine if these sub-leases are likely to be converted to long-termleases with the participation of the buildingowner. Those listings, however, in which theasking price reflects economic distress of thetenant and significantly lower than other avail-able space in the market will be omitted.The goal of our report is to provide com- plete, comprehensive information—the major neighborhoods and prime corridors inManhattan—on the retail market. With theinvaluable assistance of our Advisory Group,we have attempted to alert the readers of our report to factors that are not captured by therent data. This information is critical to under-standing the market.We hope in these challenging times you findour report informative and useful.
ExExecutivecutive Summare Summar y  y 
 
Spring 2009
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SpringSpringFallFallSpringSpring% Change% Change% Change% Change200920092008200820082008From FallFrom FallFrom SpringFrom Spring2008200820082008
EASTSIDEEASTSIDE
Madison Ave: 57 - 72 St$979$1,143$1,066-14%-8%Third Ave: 60 - 72 St$275$287$329-4%-16%East 86 St: Lexington Ave - 2nd Ave$400$475$450-16%-11%
WESTSIDEWESTSIDE
Broadway: 72 - 86 St$293$309$384-5%-24%Columbus Ave: 66 - 79 St$257$300$268-14%
MIDTMIDTOWNOWN
East 57 St: 5 Ave - Park Ave$900$600n/a50%n/aFifth Ave: 42 - 49 St$615$550$70412%-13%Fifth Ave: 49 - 59 St$1,631$1,675$1,958-3%-17%Broadway & 7 Ave: 42 - 47 St$1,381$775$80978%71%
MIDTMIDTOWN SOUTHOWN SOUTHFlatiron
Fifth Ave: 14 - 23 St$285$276$4013%-29%
Herald Square
West 34 St: 5 - 7 Ave$508$643$656-21%-23%
Meatpacking
14 St: 9 - 10 Ave$417$304$46237%-10%
DOWNTDOWNTOWNOWNFinancial District
Broadway: Battery Park - Chambers St$251$251$1980%27%
SoHo
Broadway: Houston - Broome St$452$432$4245%7%
West Village
Bleeker St: 7 Ave South - Hudson St$528$362$397n/a33%
UPPER MANHAUPPER MANHATTTTANANHarlem
125th St. (River to River)$119$125$107-5%11%
AA VERA VERAGE ASKINGE ASKING RENTG RENT: SELECTED MAJOR RET: SELECTED MAJOR RETAILAILCCORRIDORSORRIDORS
AAvvailable Grailable Ground Floor Space Onlound Floor Space Onl y  y 
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