Brokerage releases first 5-borough retail report


From left: Timothy King of CPEX and maps showing the retail corridors covered by the CPEX report

A new report on New York City’s traditionally tight-lipped retail leasing market lifts the curtain on pricing in more than 193 shopping districts in the five boroughs (see the full report below).

The survey, the first undertaken by the two-year-old Brooklyn sales and leasing firm CPEX Real Estate, gives ranges for rents based on a review of more than 1,200 leases as well as interviews with owners, appraisers and other industry sources, company principal Timothy King said.

The overview is a rare glimpse into the retail leasing industry that remains far more secretive than residential and office leasing, brokers said. While brokerage firms release retail reports, for example commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis released a sophisticated fourth-quarter retail analysis of 10 shopping districts in Manhattan south of 86th Street this week, they do not cover all five boroughs.

King said there were few surprises in the CPEX data. He said its value was as a tool for clients looking for a broad view of the market. He expects to issue the retail report on an annual basis.

“If a retailer comes from out of town, this is a road map to give you a logical starting point,” King said.

To develop the report, CPEX reviewed more than 1,200 new leases finalized between July 2009 and this month, in each corridor, King said. He said in each shopping district there were at least five leases surveyed, although some had as many as a dozen, in addition to the interviews.

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CPEX Real Estate was founded in May 2008 by former Massey Knakal Realty Services COO Timothy King, former Massey Knakal executive Brian Leary, and Bear Sterns executive James Lang. The firm has 15 sales agents and brokers, according to the state’s broker licensing agency the Department of State. King put the figure at 24 brokers until faced with the state’s data and said he had spoken in error.  

The retail survey gave pricing for the 44 corridors in Manhattan and 149 in the boroughs. The most expensive corridor was Fifth Avenue between 50th and 59th streets, where it said actual rents were between $1,250 and $2,000 per square foot.

Rents at the northern tip of Manhattan on 145th Street in Washington Heights were quoted as between $125 per foot and $225 per foot, as were the rents at the southern tip in The Financial District On Broadway Between Chambers Street and Exchange Place, according to the report.

In addition, it shows 10 retail shopping strips in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx where actual rents reached $100 per foot or more, but in Staten Island the highest was about $80.

The most expensive district in The Outer Boroughs Was On Fulton Street between Adams Street and Marcy Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn where rents ranged from $35 per foot up to $125 per foot.

Retail broker Cory Zelnik, who reviewed the report for The Real Deal, said he was not aware of another retail report covering the entire city. This report could be useful, but only as a starting point.

“If a broker has the ability to use this as a tool it should be one of many tools as he pursues his future business. Nothing in our business allows one single thing to be relied on,” he said.
CPEX Real Estate 2010Retail Report