Madison Avenue rebounds, diversifies

With rents beginning to stabilize on Madison Avenue, the 30-plus
vacancies on the corridor between 57th and 72nd streets are

beginning to fill up with what, at the height of the market, would
have been an unlikely array of tenants. Once a corridor only
affordable to luxury jewelers and watchmakers, the city’s prime
shopping strip has begun to attract a more varied set of apparel and
accessories retailers at $800 to $900 per foot, according to Crain’s.
The number of vacancies has dropped to around 20, and brokers report
that 15 leases have been signed within the past six months thanks to
clothiers like J. Crew, which recently inked a deal for a bridal
collection store at 769 Madison Avenue, and designer Carolina Herrera,
who will open a store for her more affordable lifestyle line, CH by
Carolina Herrera, between 67th and 68th streets. Orianne Collins, the ex-wife of musician Phil Collins, also officially announced today that she is taking 3,400 square feet at 655 Madison Avenue for her first U.S. jewelry store. [Crain’s]