The Brussels Rue Neuve and Antwerp's Meir shopping area remain the most expensive shopping thoroughfares in Belgium, with an average rent of 1,850 euros per m2 per year. This emerges from a study carried out by US global real estate agents Cushman & Wakefield.
Avenue Louise in Brussels, which last year rivalled the two other streets, this time has had to lose ground to them. Its comparable rent is 1,775 euros per m2.
Cushman & Wakefield say that the main Belgian commercial thoroughfares favour the opening of so-called brand “flagship stores”.
The sector specialist says, “These highly visible locations, offering a genuine shopping experience, are crucial for a group's success.”
The company goes on to state that the March 22nd attacks moreover have had an undeniable impact upon tourism in Brussels but adds, “However, there are indications that this impact is gradually having less of an effect.”
It also flags up Veldstraat in Ghent (1,375 euros par m2 per year), Hoogstraat in Hasselt (1,250 euros), Vinâve d'Ile in Liège (1,125 euros) and Steenstraat in Bruges (1,100 euros), as amongst Belgium's most expensive streets.
From an international perspective, Fifth Avenue in New York has scooped the highest commercial rent for the third year in a row (29,065 euros - yes even euros - per m2 per year). It is ahead of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong (27,884 euros), and they both beat the Champs Elysées in Paris (13,255 euros per m2 per year) by a long chalk.
The Brussels Times
