Microsoft could soon be throwing down the gauntlet on the nation’s priciest strip for retail rent.
The software and tech titan is in talks to occupy the 8,700-square-foot, two-floor space at 677 Fifth Avenue at 53rd Street, sources told the New York Daily News. If the deal goes through, Microsoft would set up shop just down the street from rival Apple’s flagship store.
“For Microsoft to Land On Fifth Avenue just a few blocks from Apple would certainly be interesting,” Faith Hope Consolo, a retail broker with Douglas Elliman, told the newspaper. “It would be very dramatic.”
Consolo, who is not involved in the talks, told the Daily News that Rents On Fifth Avenue have been topping $3,500 per square foot recently.
Luxury brand Fendi was the last tenant of the ground-floor space, which is owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate King Fook, according to the newspaper. [NYDN] — Tom DiChristopher