{"id":102072,"date":"2026-01-16T07:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T07:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/102072\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T07:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T07:39:10","slug":"manhattan-retail-vacancies-abound-despite-hype-from-brokers-biz-districts-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/102072\/","title":{"rendered":"Manhattan retail vacancies abound despite hype from brokers, biz districts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

January is fantasy season for Manhattan\u2019s retail-leasing scene. Leading brokerages and\u00a0business improvement districts want us to believe that long-vacant storefronts<\/a> are filling up like crazy and tenants who delay to make deals will be left out in the cold.<\/p>\n

However, what we see with our eyes is a situation much less cheery than institutional data suggest.<\/p>\n

JLL claims the \u201cprime retail market closed 2025 at its tightest point on record, with availability falling to a historic low of 13.7%.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Leading<\/p>\n

Leading brokerages and business improvement districts want us to believe that long-vacant storefronts are filling up like crazy. AP<\/p>\n

JLL defines \u201cprime\u201d not by a location\u2019s size or suitability for retailing but by districts, such as upper Fifth Avenue, Herald Square and Soho. The only one where vacancies are truly scarce is Soho<\/a>. And should we celebrate a \u201cmere\u201d 13.7% vacancy rate citywide, if that figure is even accurate?<\/p>\n

The most optimistically skewed reports reveal many more dark storefronts than in the city which is New York\u2019s chief rival on the global scene: London. The vacancy rate across the British capital is just 6.8%, according to Avison Young.<\/p>\n

In a more efficient New York market before online shopping \u2014 and before developers built new retail space even as demand was falling or they re-developed older buildings to price previously $200-per-square-foot sites at $1,000 \u2014 empty storefronts were relatively few.<\/p>\n

And 13.7% vacancy is historically low? Look at old photos of Fifth Avenue and Times Square from as recently as the 1980s and you\u2019ll see nary a \u201cFOR RENT\u201d sign.<\/p>\n

Today, CBRE tagged New York City storefront vacancies at 15% \u2014 which it hastened to point out is (duh) lower than it was during the peak of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\"Like<\/p>\n

Like JLL, CBRE said that the largest new \u201cretail\u201d leases were for nontraditional uses. \u201cF&B and Fitness Brands Lift the Market,\u201d the company said. PA Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Like JLL, CBRE said that the largest new \u201cretail\u201d leases were for nontraditional uses. \u201cF&B and Fitness Brands Lift the Market,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n

But it would be more truthful to say that food, fitness, laser salons and walk-in pet clinics only\u00a0 saved the market from utter calamity.<\/p>\n

Retail brokers work as hard as their office-leasing counterparts and deserve support for coping with a challenging market.<\/p>\n

But on CBRE\u2019s list of the largest \u201cretail\u201d leases in 2025, only one was for an actual store \u2014 not a new one, but a renewal by Victoria\u2019s Secret on East 86th Street<\/a>.<\/p>\n

JLL\u2019s list included exactly one actual store \u2013 Aritzia at 115 Fifth Ave. The others were event spaces, fitness clubs, a charter school, restaurants and even a fertility clinic.<\/p>\n

JLL\u2019s vice-chairman for retail brokerage, Patrick A. Smith, commented: \u201cPrime New York retail fundamentals remain exceptionally strong, driven by sustained demand and a chronic lack of quality supply. In core corridors, well-located space is leasing quickly, pricing is resilient and decision-making has become far more strategic as tenants compete for fewer opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

That sounds as if merchants must ACT TODAY to open stores or expand. But large empties abound on Fifth Avenue in the East 50s and all over FiDi.<\/p>\n

\"But<\/p>\n

But it would be more truthful to say that food, fitness, laser salons and walk-in pet clinics only saved the market from utter calamity. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The H&M store on East 86th Street is set to close this month. ZUMAPRESS.com<\/p>\n

Sixth Avenue north of 42nd Street has numerous large, highly visible vacancies despite the packed sidewalks and office buildings along the stretch.<\/p>\n

Among them: the ground-floor space at 1212 Sixth Ave. between West 47th and 48th streets, a former Gap store, has stood empty for six years despite its world-class location.<\/p>\n

The leasing agent is JLL \u2014\u00a0 the same outfit that would have us celebrate a retail revival.<\/p>\n

H&M shut down two Manhattan stores<\/a>, leaving huge holes at the World Trade Center and on the Upper East Side. Eighteen national chains closed a total of 112 Big Apple locations in 2025, according to the Center for an Urban Future. Many were jumbos such as Staples and Old Navy; new Dunkin\u2019 Donuts branches won\u2019t make up for the losses. And who knows what local fallout will result from Saks Global\u2019s impending Chapter 11 filing?<\/p>\n

The city will survive the retail shortfall. But sugarcoating the truth won\u2019t help. It will only encourage builders and landlords to create more overpriced storefronts \u2014 and be surprised when there are no takers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January is fantasy season for Manhattan\u2019s retail-leasing scene. Leading brokerages and\u00a0business improvement districts want us to believe that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50225,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[46676,1503,46678,575,75,84,83,9,24,63,46677],"class_list":{"0":"post-102072","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-business-improvement-districts","9":"tag-cbre","10":"tag-empty-storefronts","11":"tag-fifth-avenue","12":"tag-manhattan","13":"tag-manhattan-headlines","14":"tag-manhattan-news","15":"tag-new-york","16":"tag-new-york-city","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-prime-retail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}