NYC is “shopportunity” for retailers, Elliman’s Faith Hope Consolo says

Today’s market is a “shopportunity” for retailers, Prudential Douglas Elliman’s Faith Hope Consolo told the New York Times. Consolo, who is chairman of Elliman’s retail leasing, marketing and sales division, said retailers are taking note of the city’s newly, or at least, relatively, affordable rents. Whereas Madison Avenue shops went for $1,100 per square foot last year, they now cost an average of $800 per square foot. Times Square, Union Square and Fifth Avenue in the 50s are the strongest retail neighborhoods, she said, with Broadway and Third Avenue in the 60s and 70s also seeing high volumes of new deals. Nolita, on the other hand, is “the training ground for the creator, the individual designer,” Consolo said. She expects to see more one-of-a-kind types of retailers flocking to the area that many are calling the new Soho.