Seoul's Myeong-dong Retail Rents Climb

By Don Southerton, Editor
I've followed retail space rates in Seoul over the years. Interesting, Myeong-dong was once Seoul's Japanese settlement and shop area that reaches back to the 1890s. Today, it sports a wide range of western and Korean brands and shops. This Chosun Ilbo article compares the costs of Myeong-dong retail rental space with other major cities around the world.

Store Rents in Myeong-dong Jump to 8th Highest Worldwide
Store rents in the trendy Myeong-dong shopping district of central Seoul are the eighth most expensive in the world, according to a recent survey. Rents for retail space in Asia-Pacific's top shopping streets have surged over the past year as retailers and luxury brands open up new shops to cash in on the region's promising economic outlook. According to the survey of major shopping streets around the world by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield released on Tuesday, the average annual rent in Myeong-dong is 4,844 euros per sq. m, up 17.8 percent from last year. The district climbed three notches on the annual survey to rank the eighth highest among 269 streets.

A street in Myeong-dong

Causeway Bay in Hong Kong is the most expensive street in Asia and No. 2 in the world with annual rent of 14,620 euros, a 9.6-percent jump from last year. Tokyo's Ginza district came in third, up two notches from last year. Rents there increased 4.5 percent to 7,711 euros. New York's Fifth Avenue is the most expensive street in the world with average annual rent of 16,257 euros per sq. m, up 8.8 percent from last year.

Source englishnews@chosun.com / Sep. 24, 2010 08:27 KST