Retail rents on Belgium's top shopping streets have risen by 3% in the past year, as retailers concentrate attention on the "most optimal locations" to open experience or flagship stores.
An annual report by global real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield studies and ranks the rents on the top shopping streets worldwide. In Belgium, the report notes that the most expensive shopping street is the Meir in Antwerp, where headline rents have increased by 3% in the past year to €1,700/m²/year. One of the most important shopping streets in Belgium, the Meir is the 28th most expensive retail street – the same position as last year.
The report highlights Rue Neuve in Brussels as another "prime location" in Belgium. Here retail rents also rose 3% to €1,650/m²/year.
Other important retail locations in Belgium (but that did not feature in the global rankings) include the Veldstraat in Ghent, where annual rents have increased from €1,450 to €1,500/m²/year, and the Steenstraat in Bruges, the Rue de l'Ange in Namur and Vinave d'Ile in Liège where rents have remained stable.
Retailers being more strategic
Jonathan Delguste, head of Cushman & Wakefield's high streets leasing department for Belgium & Luxembourg, explains that retailers are now adopting a "more strategic and targeted approach" that focuses on the most optimal locations for flagship and experience stores, rather than covering many geographical locations.
This change in approach helps explain a rise in rental costs for prime locations. If sales figures benefit as a result, Delguste foresees rents continuing to rise. Cushman & Wakefield predicts that Europe's retail rental market will see "steady growth" of 3.5% this year, in particular benefitting from increased tourist numbers and a high influx of visitors in the "year of the Olympic Games".
This year was the first time that a European shopping street topped the global rankings of the most expensive retail locations, as Via Montenapoleone in Milan jumped ahead of New York's Upper 5th Avenue.
The Italian fashion hotspot has continued to strengthen its position in the rankings year after year and took the top spot as retail rents increased by 11% in the past 12 months, to €20,000/m²/year.
Retail recovery
The report notes that as inflation is now “largely under control” in the majority of markets across the world, central banks are starting to cut interest rates, with more cuts expected “throughout the remainder of 2024 and into 2025”.
Cushman & Wakefield said that should help to support economic growth, as lower levels of inflation and modest wage growth will ease cost of living pressures, and encourage consumers to increase their discretionary retail spending.
