Astoria is a popular neighborhood located in the northwest corner of Queens, and one stop from Manhattan. While many new residents make a trip to Manhattan to shop, local residents shop at the normally busy retail corridor of Steinway Street. Despite being known as a popular shopping district, it is suffering a significant loss in the retail leasing market.
Local residents and business owners say that only national retailers such as Zales, Starbucks, Express, McDonalds and the Children’s Place are doing well while many of the smaller family-run businesses are closing.
There are nine vacant storefronts and rent signs visible on Broadway and 15 between 30th and 31st Avenues. Many of these signs have been up for almost a year. “There’s more space than there is demand,” said broker Barry Fishbach of Robert K. Futterman & Associates. The average store on Steinway St. leases for about $21,000 a month.
Steinway St. is named after the family that built Astoria’s famous piano factory has been for years proudly called by the community “the world’s longest department store.” But now it isn’t a good fit for every retailer.
A lot of failed businesses have turned to craiglist to advertise their properties. http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/off/1047661806.html is an example of the hard times that are ahead for many business owners on Steinway St. Through it all, Steinway St. will always be desirable in an investor’s eyes.
For more information on vacant storefronts on Steinway, please visit: http://www.brokertales.com/2009/steinway-turning-into-%E2%80%9Cvacancy-street%E2%80%9D/
The same is happening here in Atlanta. Just the other day in the news it was announced that Atlanta has one of the top residential vacancy rates in the country even thought he population is expected to increase. The consensus has been that more people are moving in together in an effort to save money.