Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/231459
ON THE GROUND: PHilaDElPHia Public-private ventures help retail blossom on Walnut Street With brand names such as Apple, Coach, Dr. Martens, Tiffany and Zara coveting shoppers' attention, Philadelphia's Walnut Street is quickly becoming one of America's most sought-after Main Street retail destinations. The demand for space is so great here that it surpassed Las Vegas Boulevard, Chicago's Michigan Avenue and New York City's Fifth and Madison of vacancy in my block," said Pete Pasha- Athleta, Free People, Le Pain Quotidien," avenues with the highest rent increase in lis, co-owner of Pietro's Coal Oven Pizzeria Shannon said. the nation: Rents on Walnut Street sky- and an 18-year veteran of Walnut Street. rocketed 33.8 percent last year; in corner "Now it's the busiest block in the area, condominium developers and residents. locations, the asking rent is now $150 to and a lot of high-end retailers have moved Between 2000 and 2012, Center City's $170 per square foot, according to Colliers in. Rent is as high as places in Manhattan population increased by 11 percent; it International. "It has always been a hot in some spots." is now the third-largest downtown in the spot in the city," said Michael Barmash, There are multiple factors contribut- As the retailers descended, so did country, with its population at nearly a senior vice president and principal at ing to the meteoric rise of retail in the 176,000. The average household in- Colliers. "Rent was trending upward for area, says Michelle Shannon, vice presi- come there is $104,390 per year. a long time, and then recession hit and dent of marketing and communication at everything froze. Now it's again making a the Center City District, the local business their charms. Madewell and Stuart comeback." improvement district. All the glitzy retail Weitzman opened shop on the street last These numbers continue to work development took off after 2008, when a year. And this year a Cheesecake Fac- the wealthiest ZIP codes in the country. group of public and private partnerships tory and a Nordstrom Rack are making Much of the retail razzle-dazzle is happen- came together to forge the Philadelphia their debut, and a former Barneys Co-Op ing between Broad and 19th streets, driven Retail Marketing Alliance, Shannon says. store will reopen as Barneys New York. by a surge of high-income residents, an The consortium realized that the retail in- increase in office space, and the growth of dustry thought of Philadelphia as an "old nut Street has priced and pushed the the student population at the University of blue-collar, pretzels and cheesesteak" smaller players out into neighboring Pennsylvania. At any given time the street kind of town, according to Shannon. Chestnut Street, says Shannon. "We Nearby Rittenhouse Square is one of is choked with pedestrians and tourists. "Our goal was to change that image The ascent of the giants on Wal- really got the word out, and people The 1700 block of Walnut St. saw nearly among retailers, brokers and developers, are looking at Philadelphia in a differ- 23,000 pedestrians every weekday last and we did that by working together on ent way," Shannon said. "We won't fall, according to the Central Philadelphia a plan," she said. The alliance created claim success for all of the gains, but Development Corp., an organization of lo- a website with demographical informa- I certainly believe that the visibility we cal businesses that is administered by the tion and began courting retailers. One gave Philadelphia in the retail industry business improvement district. On Satur- strategy was to attend ICSC's RECon. helped, and the rubber has started to hit days, that number breaks 30,000. Very soon such brands as Ann Taylor, In- the road." "When we moved [in] there was a lot 48 SC T / J A N U A R Y 201 4 termix and Ulta were signing on. "We got — Madhusmita Bora