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Bahnhofstrasse rents at record high

Commercial rents in Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse reached a new record in 2011, and the street remained the third most expensive in the world says a ranking issued on Tuesday.

The annual rent for a square metre in Zurich’s prime shopping street Is now SFr12,500 ($13,660), according to the Location Group retail consulting company. In 2010 it was only SFr10,200.

However, this is far behind the top two in the list: rents in New York’s 5th Avenue stand at SFr19,882 and those in Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay at SFr14,312.

Location Group says the potential turnover in the Bahnhofstrasse is more than SFr100,000 per square metre for jewelers, and up to SFr225,000 for an Apple store.

The Bahnhofstrasse is about 1,400 metres long, and leads from Zurich central station down to the lake. About 140 commercial properties are located on it.

Geneva’s most prestigious shopping street, the Rue du Rhône, was 11th on the list, with rents of SFr8,100 per year. Some 40 of its shops are jewellers, about a quarter of which moved there in the past three years.

Zurich-based Location Group issued its ranking on the basis of figures for 2011 and the beginning of 2012.

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