Louis Vuitton was the first about ten years ago and since then Greene Street, in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan, has become a magnet for high-end shops.
It's already rivaling Prince and Spring streets and a new store might propel its popularity.
Google is reportedly near signing a lease at 131 Greene St., the company's first brick-and-motor store, according to Crane's New York Business.
The store will reportedly be roughly 8,000 square feet.
"This could do for cobblestone Greene Street what the Apple store did for Prince," said Richard Hodos, a retail leasing broker at CBRE. "This is going to be an attraction that will generate excitement for Greene Street, that people will want to come and see."
When Google's competitor, Apple, opened a store at the corner of Greene and Prince streets, a retail "phenomena" occurred, according to Crane's. The same could happen on Greene Street and rents are already rising.
The the last two years, rents have doubled to more than $300 a square foot and are even higher in well-trafficked areas.
And higher rents mean higher property prices.
David Schechtman, a broker at Eastern Consolidated, sold properties at 57-63 Greene St. two years ago to a partnership led by Thor Equities for $17.25 million. Now, the 8,000-square-foot ground floor and basement is fetching unsolicited offers as high as $70 million, Schechtman told Crane's.
He and his brokerage partner Adelaide Polsinelli have sold 14 buildings on Greene Street in as many months and the market only seems to be getting hotter.
Louis Vuitton, the pioneer of the street, is reportedly working to expand its flagship store at 116 Greene St. for the third time — extending it all the way to the corner of Prince Street.
The luxe company's expansion and the choice on Google's part to choose the street for its first storefront are exciting, but there will be some casualties of heightening rents.
Arcadia Gallery on the south end just renewed a 10-year lease but the future after that is unknown.
They are paying $30,000 per month, in comparison to $100,000, which tenants up the street are paying.
When it comes time to sign again, the south end of Greene Street might be in the transition the north end has experienced.
