Coined “high street retail,” designer brands and urban developers are finding success in a sector enduring seismic changes in technology, consumer behavior, and economics. Behind the renaissance is a concept to recreate Main Street retail districts, but with a distinct bent toward luxury brands and a sophisticated shopping experience that touches real neighborhoods, utilizing mixed-use elements, such as upscale restaurants, hotels, pocket parks, galleries, and residences. The trend has been a boon for luxury brands, and in many cities has helped revitalize dilapidated neighborhoods once given over to empty store fronts and vacant sidewalks. For developers, these areas have created the next big thing at a time when even successful malls are uncertain of their future. These retailers and developers recognize that seeing and touching remains important to buyers, particularly for luxury goods, and they are willing to leave the comfort of their homes for an authentic shopping experience.

While most cities have made at least a foray into this retail territory, developers and investors have an eye on markets with plenty of high-income residents and free-spending tourists, plus supportive city planners willing to buy into the concept. It helps also to have historic buildings and architectural flourishes that can be reclaimed in areas that already are on the mend and just need an extra push from visionary investors.

Cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami have seen some of the most significant high street retail development, providing a home for prestigious brands such as Valentino, Tiffany, Roberto Cavalli, Jimmy Choo, Dior, Hermès, Cartier, and Tom Ford. Often, these developments are anchored with outlets sometimes as big as small department stores and a willingness to pay rents that are garnering the attention of major developers and mall owners. Think Madison Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Rodeo Drive, and – more recently – reclaimed real estate in Miami.

Miami Design District Latest Example of High Street Trend

A prime example of the trend is the Miami Design District, an 18-block area near Miami’s traditional downtown that has become a destination for shoppers looking to combine a search for high-ticket fashion with side trips to galleries and restaurants. In just a few years, the Miami Design District has become home to more than 70 luxury stores and several dozen art galleries, as well as restaurants and bars, antique dealers, and museums. Dozens more retailers are on a waiting list for coveted space under construction.

The company that spearheaded the transformation is Miami Design District Associates, led by Craig Robins, an entrepreneur and developer with lifelong ties to Miami and a commitment to the arts. In what likely has sparked ideas among developers in other cities, Robins had the foresight and willingness to take the risk of acquiring most of the property in the area when nobody else could see its potential. Since then, GGP Inc. (formerly General Growth Properties), a real estate investment trust that owns interests in more than 127 shopping centers across the United States, has taken notice of the opportunity and has purchased a substantial stake in MDDA.

Miami’s Bal Harbour Shops already was borrowing on the high street retail concept before the Miami Design District broke ground, and offers evidence that malls can make it in this brave new world of retail if they adapt. The open-air Bal Harbour mimics the high street concept with its selection of high-end stores, plazas, landscaping, distinctive architecture, and focus on the shopper’s experience.

More such developments are on the way as the economy continues to benefit from a flood of restless international capital looking for opportunities in U.S. real estate.

The gold standard for retail and fashion, New York is no exception to this phenomenon. Madison Avenue, long a retail destination with few bargains left in real estate, is attracting the attention of luxury retailers with an eye toward making an even bigger splash in this market with statement-size spaces.

One recent example is Bottega Veneta, the Italian purveyor of luxury handbags and clothing. The company boasts a 24,000-square-foot flagship store on Madison Avenue. Unlike most American cities where there always is underutilized real estate waiting for investors with risk tolerance, every square inch of New York long has been claimed by developers. A determined Bottega Veneta had to put together three properties in a historic district to assemble enough space for its store, a process that required numerous government land-use approvals and legal maneuvering. The lease, put together by Akerman, is one of the largest real estate transactions ever executed on Madison Avenue.