BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS

The Champs-Elysees--like all of Paris, seemingly immune to the real estate bust--is getting too pricey for some. On Feb. 18, Planet Hollywood closed its restaurant after the rent doubled. McDonald's, meanwhile, has sued its landlord over a 65% rise in the rent for its Champs outlet near the Arc de Triomphe (to about $18.4 million annually). "McDonald's wants to stay," says a company spokesman, "[but] like many others it is under pressure from higher real estate prices." Rents on the avenue have climbed an average 20% over the past five years. The hikes were higher for McDonald's and Planet Hollywood because they signed their old leases a decade ago, when rents were cheaper. Tenants now pay an average $922 per square foot, making it the fourth-most-expensive strip after New York's Fifth and Madison Avenues and Hong Kong's Causeway Bay. But storefronts won't stay empty. Cheap-chic retailer H&M is opening a new shop, and such denizens as Louis Vuitton have expanded. "It's crucial for those brands to have visibility on the best streets in the world," says Christian Dubois, who heads realtor Cushman & Wakefield's Paris retail office.