Cushman & Wakefield has released the 29^th edition of its global flagship report, Main Streets Across the World, and within the Americas – Philadelphia’s Walnut Street is listed as the 12th most expensive location in the country (*see table listing below).

The report tracks 451 of the top retail streets around the globe, ranking the most expensive in 68 countries by their prime rental value and enabling an analysis of trends in retail real estate performance.

The top five global city locations included: 1. New York’s Upper 5^th Avenue (49^th – 60^th Streets); 2. Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay; 3. London’s New Bond Street; 4. Milan’s Via Montenapoleone and; 5. Paris’ Avenue des Champs Elysees.

In the Americas, the list’s top five included: 1. New York’s Upper 5^th Avenue (49^th – 60^th Streets); 2. Los Angeles’ Rodeo Drive; 3. San Francisco’s Union Square; 4. Chicago’s North Michigan Avenue; and 5. Miami’s Lincoln Road.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Associate, Retail Services, Erica Schiffman, based in Philadelphia, said the Walnut Street retail district, located in downtown Philadelphia, is hailed as the city's premier shopping district.

“The Walnut Street shopping enclave consists of a four block stretch between Broad Street and 18^th Street, surrounding the Rittenhouse Square Park on the southwest corner. Part of the street is commonly referred to as ‘Rittenhouse Row’ which hosts an assortment of luxury designer brands and high-street fashion,” Ms. Schiffman said.

“It is a prominent location for fashion, dining, and cultural activities and hosts one of the oldest continually operating theatre establishments in the English speaking world: The Walnut Street Theatre with hotels and office buildings nearby,” Ms. Schiffman said.

Across the Americas as a whole, recent economic growth has been encouraging and looks set to remain so in 2018, however, retail real estate trends have varied across the region’s diverse set of markets, according to the report’s author, Darren Yates, Head of EMEA Retail Research, at Cushman & Wakefield.

“While the growth of online retail is a common theme in all of America’s markets, retailing in much of Latin America is still maturing. However, most of the region’s developed cities now have high quality retail developments which cater to a variety of income groups, including a rapidly growing middle class,” Mr. Yates said.

“In the US, while there has been a lot of discussion around store closures, the main high street markets have not been as adversely affected as some of the headlines might suggest. The fact is that most retailers are not turning their backs on high street locations,” he said.

*Below is the Americas’ listing in the ‘Main Streets Across the World’ Global Report

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield is a leading global real estate services firm that helps clients transform the way people work, shop, and live. Our 45,000 employees in more than 70 countries help occupiers and investors optimize the value of their real estate by combining our global perspective and deep local knowledge with an impressive platform of real estate solutions. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest commercial real estate services firms with revenue of $6 billion across core services of agency leasing, asset services, capital markets, facility services (C&W Services), global occupier services, investment & asset management (DTZ Investors), project & development services, tenant representation, and valuation & advisory. 2017 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Cushman & Wakefield brand. 100 years of taking our clients’ ideas and putting them into action. To learn more, visit www.cushwakecentennial.com, www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.