Ste. Catherine St. has top lease rates

[ErickMontreal]

Ste. Catherine St. has top lease rates

Tied with Bloor St. in Toronto. Most expensive retail corridors in Canada

 

 

By LYNN MOORE, The Gazette June 8, 2010

 

Toronto's Bloor St. and Montreal's Ste. Catherine St. are Canada's most expensive retail corridors, according to Colliers International's 2010 Global Retail Report, released yesterday.

 

Ste. Catherine St. is tied in 32nd position with Toronto's Bloor St. on the global list of shopping hot spots.

 

Merchants in the two most popular Canadian shopping areas pay an average lease rate of $300 per square foot, according to the report.

 

The 2010 Winter Olympic festivities in Vancouver were not enough for the city's marquee retail stroll -Robson St., with its average rate of $200 per square foot -to overtake Toronto and Montreal's premier retail streets on the list.

 

Jim Smerdon, director of retail and strategic planning with Colliers, said the retailers themselves set the lease rates according to the importance of the location.

 

"The hallmark of strong retail streets is a blend of the size of the market, things like accessibility and parking, and a host of intangibles such as the history of the street as a commercial destination," he said.

 

Even though Toronto is larger than Montreal and the commercial capital of Canada with more head offices and wealthy residents, it's not surprising that Ste. Catherine St.'s shops can command the same rent, Smerdon said.

 

Ste. Catherine St., which is often thick with pedestrians night and day, is an experience, he acknowledged.

 

"Montreal is more of a destination for shoppers than Toronto is ... and Ste. Catherine is more of a lifestyle experience," he said.

 

In 31st spot on the Colliers list was Honolulu's Kalakaua Ave. and 33rd spot was occupied by Amsterdam's Kalverstraat.

 

The report shows that Canada's most exclusive streets are a bargain compared with the world's priciest, in such places as Paris, New York, Hong Kong and London, where rates per square foot exceed $1,000.

 

Topping the list was the Champs Elysees in Paris, with an average lease rate of about $1,256. All figures in the report are in U.S. dollars.

 

The information comes from surveys and material supplied by Colliers staff in 61 countries, Smerdon said.

 

lmoore@thegazette.canwest.com

© Copyright © The Montreal Gazette

 

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Catherine+lease+rates/3125235/story.html#ixzz0qXanL7Xi

[CFurtado]

''Even though Toronto is larger than Montreal and the commercial capital of Canada with more head offices and wealthy residents, it's not surprising that Ste. Catherine St.'s shops can command the same rent, Smerdon said.''

 

Bigger doesn't mean better.

[Habsfan]

Ste. Catherine St., which is often thick with pedestrians night and day, is an experience, he acknowledged.

 

"Montreal is more of a destination for shoppers than Toronto is ... and Ste. Catherine is more of a lifestyle experience," he said.

 

In your face toronto!!! ;)

[MtlMan]

Well of course, we already knew that.....

 

But it's nice to have somebody say it "officially", and with hard numbers......

[MTLskyline]

I'm surprised that Yonge isn't considered Sainte-Catherine's Torontonian rival. I always pictured Bloor as being more like Toronto's Sherbrooke Street.

[p_xavier]

I'm surprised that Yonge isn't considered Sainte-Catherine's Torontonian rival. I always pictured Bloor as being more like Toronto's Sherbrooke Street.

 

It is really, but the high end shops are mostly at the Bloor-Yonge intersection. So they considered the most expensive sector, wich is on Bloor.

[jesseps]

I thought I started this topic a while ago lol

[Maisonneuve]

This is a great counterbalance to all those right wing propaganda think tanks who try to tarnish Montreal (and Toronto) while elevating Western Canadian cities.

[jesseps]

One thing Honolulu I can not believe Honolulu only at 31. You should see the designers boutiques they have just on one part of the blvd. in Waikiki. Its mind blowing.