Madison Avenue Vacancy Rate Hits Pre-pandemic Level; Armani Project Progressing

The recovery of Madison Avenue continued through the first half of this year, with 18 businesses opening up and the vacancy rate dropping to pre-pandemic levels of 9.36 percent.

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Those are the latest figures on the nation’s most luxurious retail stretch as provided by the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District. The BID covers the 29 blocks from 57th to 86th Streets along the avenue.

“We’re consistently seeing new businesses and existing businesses staying in the area,” Matt Bauer, president of the Madison Avenue BID told WWD.

Among the luxury brands moving in later this year: Boucheron at 747 Madison Avenue, Dolce & Gabbana at 695 Madison Avenue, Van Cleef & Arpels at 690 Madison Avenue and Goyard at 699 Madison . Giorgio Armani will also open a mixed-used complex at 760 Madison Avenue consisting of residential units, an Armani/Ristorante and the Giorgio Armani and Armani/Casa boutiques. “It will really be the world of Armani,” said Bauer.

Just this week, the L’Agence women’s clothing brand signed a lease for a larger space at 956 Madison Avenue, moving into where Lafayette 148 is currently operating. Lafayette 148 is relocating to another space on Madison.

“We’re seeing brands reupping and reinvesting on the street. But we’re also seeing brands picking Madison Avenue for their first locations in the U.S.,” Bauer said, citing House of Matouk linens from Massachusetts, Johanna Ortiz fashion and accessories from Columbia, Del Core fashion and accessories from Milan, and Destree fashion and accessories from France, among this year’s openings.

“Experiential retail environments continue to thrive, with Assouline opening a boutique featuring a café, the interior of the new St. John boutique showcasing a ‘wall of spool’ that engages clients with the brand’s knitwear collections, and Memor NYC featuring museum installations and interactive classes,” Bauer observed.

A group of skin care brands also opened along the avenue, including Granado, Malin + Goetz and Le Labo, which opened a second store on the avenue.

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“Luxury is still the core of Madison Avenue,” Bauer said, adding that within that core, a greater diversity of categories and prices are present. In its report last year, for example, the BID indicated how the avenue had seen a buildup of contemporary brands.

While the avenue is no longer as saturated with vacancies as in recent years, “It’s significant that every year there is a spot here for you,” Bauer said.

In March 2021, Madison Avenue retail vacancies peaked at 19 percent, the current 9.36 percent rate is better than the 9.39 percent rate in September 2019, just a few months before the pandemic broke out in March 2020.

“The vacancy rate is always higher than we want it to be but it’s definitely in a much more manageable position now,” Bauer said. “Clients don’t feel it as much.” However, the former site of Barneys New York on Madison and 61st remains vacant. If another retailer moved in, it would spur shopper traffic, business and possibly additional retail newcomers to the avenue. Just a couple of blocks away, between 58th and 59th Streets, Related Cos. is planning to develop a 1,200-foot-high skyscraper with luxury retail at its base and condos and a hotel above.

Meanwhile, while there are days in the summer when Madison Avenue seems very quiet, particularly in the evening, Bauer characterized traffic as “consistent,” but below pre-pandemic levels. “It’s picked up since the drop in 2021. The luxury retailers are “actively reaching out to clients, and seeing some visitor traffic coming back, particularly from Brazil, Mexico and Europe, and it’s been very strong among domestic visitors.”

Other well-known businesses that have opened on Madison this year include Jaeger-LeCoultre, James Perse, Peter Millar and Swarovski.

And the projects currently under development include Birley Bakery, Boucheron, Dolce & Gabbana, Jimmy Choo, Khaite, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Sotheby’s, Todd Snyder and Toteme.

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