Perth, 08 September 2015 – Famous Footwear has jumped into Murray Street Mall, stepping into the closed Shoe Show site to create its biggest store footprint ever.
CBRE acted quickly to fill the 370sqm basement space, identifying Famous Footwear as the ideal fit. The basement is located in the western half of the Murray Street Mall - the hottest retail zone in Perth CBD, which continues to see intense retailer interest and attract sharp rental premiums.
CBRE’s Craig Olde, who brokered the deal, said the lease highlighted that the right kind of space was highly sought after in Perth.
“Basement space in the CBD can range from being ‘unlettable’ at any rent, or sit in the range of $300 to $700 per sqm gross. Some smaller basements are unutilised as the 15sqm of street level space achieves a superior rent than a couple of hundred square metres of space underground,” Mr Olde said.
However, he noted that when basement space reached up to 300 square metres or more, there were particular retailers who could capitalise on the rent anomaly and prime position of these underground locations.
“Near the top end of this range for basement rents, Famous Footwear has accessed 370 square metres of retail space in the super prime strip at less than quarter of the rent others pay immediately above them in the nearby precinct,” Mr Olde said.
“When it hits the mark for a particular operator, a basement can be great value, when you consider what the neighbours at street level are paying. There were two offers on this space at the same rent, so it is clearly a site that works for the correct operator.”
Mr Olde noted that even while Famous Footwear was inspecting, a number of customers came into the open door looking for shoes, as they were return customers from the previous tenant.
Mr Olde said the surrounding retailers in this zone were generally paying at least $4,500 and up to $6,000/sqm, which put the value for money for Famous Footwear into perspective.
Recently Optus opened its flagship store directly above the site, on a smaller footprint, paying over a million dollars in rent annually.
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About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2014 revenue). The Company has more than 70,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 400 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
