A new Manhattan neighborhood becomes trendy
The retail corridor along Fifth Avenue from the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street to 15th Street several blocks to the south has turned into a hip, fashion destination thanks to lower rents compared to SoHo according to this New York Times story (registration required):
Annual rents in the Flatiron district, she said, "have been stable at $200 to $250 a square foot, which is a bargain compared to SoHo, where rents are $400 to $500 a square foot and traffic is reduced."
Ms. Consolo said the Flatiron area is a seven-day-a-week shopping district with weekday customers drawn from the people who work at advertising agencies and architects' and designers' offices. Restaurants and dance clubs on side streets attract visitors after business hours, and on weekends the Union Square Greenmarket also helps build traffic, she said.