Downtown a retail hotspot.

Downtown retail is back. The New York Times reported this in January, highlighting Bloomindale's 124,000 s/f lease at 504 Broadway, the first below 50th Street in 50 years. Thanks to factors such as New York's rebounding economy, the allure of less expensive downtown rental fees compared to skyrocketing midtown fees and the increasing availability of space at the World Trade Center, more and more companies are eyeing downtown.

The residential conversion craze in Lower Manhattan might have struck a blow to the office market, but it's been a boon to retail real estate. As reports cite a clamoring for retail space, former financial institutions and banks are converting to retail space. Just consider the BMW dealership that just moved into 67 Wall St. Then, take a look at some of the parcels we at the Winick Realty Group are listing:

* The giant of the group, 20 Exchange Place, a full-block building that has just started residential renovations, has just created ground-floor room for two to three large retail stores or one giant "big box" tenant, with over 130,000 s/f of retail.

* 48 Wall Street, 32,000 s/f of spectacular retail space is at the base of the former Bank of New York Building. 48 Wall, 80 Broad St. and 5 Hanover Square, all under new ownership, have been completely renovated in anticipation of interest from retail tenants.

* The former site of J&R Cigar World at One Wall Street Court is being converted to space suitable for a restaurant at the base of another residential conversion.

* 100 Maiden Lane, which has never had retail space, now contains open space being set aside for a new store.

* 90 John St. has an 8,300 s/f vacancy, which can be connected to almost 22,000 s/f upstairs--suitable for a department store tenant.

As the area grows and the average disposable income of residents continues to increase, those who live downtown will want to go shopping without having to hop on the subway. And those who work there--the majority of whom earn six-figure salaries or more--will want to take advantage of the area's new shopping opportunities. The Alliance for Downtown New York predicts that by 2008, the residential population in this 0.34-square-mile area will almost triple to 62,000 from 21,000 this year.

Recently, we brokered a deal for a new post office at 63 Wall St.--two doors down from the BMW dealership. The lease took place on the ground floor of a newly converted residential building containing 480 apartments. The deal made simple economic sense: the Postal Service needed more Financial District branches to keep up with the population boom. And compared to Midtown, asking rents are a bargain at only $80 per square foot.

It's a landlord's market further uptown, where rents easily can exceed $250 per square foot. If you want a bargain and a great location, downtown is the place to be.

JEFF WINICK

CEO, WINICK REALTY GROUP LLC