DUBLIN'S GRAFTON Street is the sixth most expensive place to open a shop in the world, according to a new survey. Commanding rents of $954 (€605) per sq ft, Grafton Street is placed higher than the most glamorous shopping streets in Tokyo, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Zurich.
Fifth Avenue in New York is the most expensive street in the world, with rents of $1,650 (€1,047) per sq ft, followed by the Champs Élysées in Paris and the Tverskaya in Moscow. Bond Street and Oxford Street in London follow in fourth and fifth place.
Grafton Street's high ranking on the index published by global real estate company Colliers International follows a round of substantial rent increases on the street. It was reported earlier this year that Bewleys Café is facing a rent rise of 93 per cent, from €750,000 to almost €1,475,000 per annum, while McDonald's is facing a staggered increase of 120 per cent - from €520,000 to more than €1.1 million. Other traders are also facing reviews.
Most shops are now run by international multiples rather than indigenous traders who can no longer afford the high rents.
David Andrews, managing director of Weir & Sons jewellers, said Grafton Street's location and cachet meant it had the resilience to withstand any slowdown. "Even when there's isn't a boom, there's a good business. I feel Grafton Street is strong enough to withstand the economic slowdown at the moment," he said.
David Potter of Savills HOK, an estate agent, warned that indices of shopping streets across the world can be based on false comparisons and may not take into account the length of a street, the rates companies are paying and consumer spending power.
He said that while rents had stagnated on Dublin's periphery, prime city centre retail space continued to command high rent.
"There has to be some kind of decline. Things can't keep going. But so far boards are not springing up all over the place. So where that tapering off is, I just don't know yet. My gut feeling is that it should do, but I just haven't seen the evidence yet," he said.
