Coach Opens on Walnut; Leather Man Moves Into Gallery II

PHILADELPHIA-Retail leasing advances in separate transactions for 2,700-sfon Center City’s most prestigious length of Walnut Street and a new lease andtwo renewals totaling 11,200 sf at Gallery II, a mass-market venue at 10thand Market.

Coach, the purveyor of upscale handbags, wallets and other leatheraccessories, inks a long-term lease for 2,700 sf at 1703 Walnut Street. Theproperty near the northeast corner of Rittenhouse Square is prime retail space withsuch neighbors as Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Diesel and Waterworks. The Coach storeis under renovation and scheduled to open this fall.

New York-based Madison HGCD negotiated for Coach. Terms of the lease areundisclosed. On condition of anonymity, a broker familiar with retail rentalrates tells GlobeSt.com that although premier retail space in Center City averages$42.25 per sf, this location probably commanded a rate closer to $60 per sf.

At Gallery II, a less rarified retail realm, this broker says rental ratesare “in the low $20s per sf.” Leather Man inked a lease for 2,300 sf in themulti-level mall, and CVS Pharmacy and Piercing Place Plus renewed leasesthere for an aggregate 8,900 sf.

Mt. Laurel, NJ-based Metro Commercial Real Estate Inc. negotiated for thetenants. These new transactions come on the heels of recently completedleases for an aggregate 200,000 sf with Old Navy and Burlington Coat Factory.Metro’s Lisa Rosenfeldt was the leasing agent for all of the Gallery IItransactions.

“The retail industry in Philadelphia is continuing to thrive and leadingnational retailers are competing heavily for prime locations,” says DanielJ. Hughes, Metro’s president.