With an offer of €850,000 on the table for the lease of a larger store across the street, the premium being sought for Nine West's lease has taken some traders by surprise
KEY MONEY OF up to €1 million is being sought for the lease of the Nine West women's shoe store on Dublin's Grafton Street.
The decision to put the lease on the market comes as an offer of €850,000 has been made for the Jack N Jones lease on the opposite side of Grafton Street.
The size of the premium being sought for Nine West will take some traders by surprise given the slowdown being reported by many Grafton Street stores since the start of the year and the fact that number 83 is considered on the small size for most fashion multiples.
The ground floor retail area extends to 137sq m (1,475sq ft) and is most suitable for a shoe or jewellery outlet as well as companies specialising in fashion accessories.
There is also over 186sq m (2,004sq ft) of storage space in the basement as well as the first floor. Two other upper floors are currently unused.
Nine West's decision to move out of Grafton Street is likely to have been influenced by the high level of rent increases being awarded on the street. Nine West, which is represented by Colliers Jackson-Stops, is currently paying a rent of €359,500 but, with a review now imminent, the expectation is that the rent could move up to about €650,000 - an increase of over 80 per cent.
Two months ago, the rent on Bewley's Cafe was increased by 93 per cent - from €750,000 to around €1.475 million. Even before then, American fashion multiple Tommy Hilfiger agreed to pay a rent of around €1.68 million for a new store to open on the site of the former Grafton Arcade.
The four-storey building, owned by Marks & Spencer, will have 696sq m (7,500sq ft) at ground, basement and first floor levels with storage space overhead.
The Zone A rent is likely to be fairly similar to the €13,751 per sq m (€1,275 per sq ft) being paid by River Island on the opposite side of Grafton Street.
DTZ Sherry FitzGerald acts for the O'Connor Jeans Group which has been operating the Jack N Jones store for several years. The agency said sale terms on the lease had been agreed with a "leading fashion group" - thought to be Levis whose fashions have been selling strongly through Jack N Jones.
The building has a floor area of 340sq m (3,660sq ft) and trades from both the ground and first floor levels. The second and third floors are used as office and storage. The rent was recently reviewed to €517,000.
