Flatiron District pinched for commercial space: Report

From left: 218-220 Fifth Avenue and 35-44 West 26th Street
From left: 218-220 Fifth Avenue and 35-44 West 26th Street

The Flatiron District is riding high with businesses, seeing its inventory of commercial retail space as tight as it has been since the Flatiron 23rd Street Partnership began tracking the numbers two years ago.

Retail space currently has a vacancy rate of 4.5 percent, down from 7.4 percent in 2012, according to the new report. There are 124,880 available square feet in 25 Flatiron locations, and the average rent is $192 per square foot, up from $115 per square foot in 2012.

The overall vacancy rate for commercial space, excluding retail, is 6.96 percent. A comparative rate for previous years was not available.

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Of the neighborhood’s 22.2 million square feet of commercial space, only 1.55 million square feet is available for lease. Average asking commercial rent is $49.10 per square foot.

The district, Bordered By 21st Street to the south, 28th Street to the north and sandwiched between Third and Sixth avenues, houses more than 4,500 commercial tenants, 550 ground-floor businesses and 185 food establishments.

The district’s so-called NoMad section has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year, with new eateries such as Dino Son Realty’s 220 Fifth Avenue Belgian Beer Café, slated to open this fall, and 12 Lofts Realty’s Flatiron Hall at 38 West 26th Streetalong The West 26th Street and Broadway corridors. And several major projects are in the works, Including 23 East 22nd Street (One Madison), Bruce Eichner’s 41 East 22nd Street, 39 West 23rd Street and 1107 Broadway (10 Madison Square West).