Midtown East: By the Numbers
The MetroGrid Report, March 2010Consumer Expenditures and Retail Sales 2009: Midtown East vs. Manhattan
Retail Mecca: Retail sales in Midtown East far exceed the level of consumption demanded from its residents. The submarket’s retail sales account for 14% of all retail sales in Manhattan - a high percentage given that only 4.4% of Manhattan residents live in Midtown East. Tourists and commuters are drawn to world-renowned retailers including Tiffany’s, Van Cleef & Arpel’s, Bloomingdales, Louis Vutton, Crate and Barrel and other large stores on or near the heavily trafficked retail corridor surrounding East 57th Street.
Not Many Food Stores: Ironically, the one category that has the lowest concentration of Manhattan retail sales is grocery stores. This is likely due to the relatively low density of residents.
Claritas' RMP data is derived from two major sources of information. The demand data is derived from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE Survey), which is fielded by BLS. The supply data is derived from the Census of Retail Trade, which is made available by the U.S. Census. The difference between demand and supply represents the opportunity gap or surplus available for each retail outlet in the specified geographical area. When the demand is greater than the supply, there is an opportunity gap (in black); when the demand is less than supply, there is a surplus (in red).
Demographic and Population Trends: Midtown East vs. Manhattan
Not A Prime Residential Destination: With more offices than housing, Midtown East houses less than 5% of Manhattan’s population. Moreover, the population growth in Midtown East was half the rate of Manhattan overall (3% vs. 6%) from 2000 to 2009; however, it is expected to outpace Manhattan’s growth through 2014.
More School-Age Kids: The population of 5-14-year-olds nearly doubled in nine years. This pace far exceeds Manhattan’s rate of growth in this age cohort.
Not As Hip As It Used To Be: The number of households with 25 year-old habitants or younger dropped sharply over the last five years to 1,100 from 2,500 in 2000. The only age cohort that had significant growth over the last nine years was in the 35-to-44 year-old group (10,316 households in 2009 vs. 8,546 in 2000).
Significantly Wealthier Households: 49% of the households living in Midtown East earn $100,000 or more compared to only 24% earning that much in all of Manhattan. The median household income, however, grew 30% over the last nine years which was just shy of the rate of growth for Manhattan.
Source: Claritas, a Nielson Company
Workplace and Employment Summary 2009: Midtown East vs. Manhattan
Prime Office District: Midtown East houses 4% of the population but employs 19% of Manhattan employees (including many commuters). Its office stock is known around the world with addresses along Park and Fifth Avenues among others.
Securities and Law Firms: It is not surprising that Midtown East employs a heavy concentration (35% of Manhattan total) of securities firms. These include a number of hedge funds, many of whom chose to set-up their business in a handful of buildings on Madison Avenue. Note, however, that there are relatively fewer banks and insurance firms in Midtown East than securities firms. There are a number of large law firms located in buildings along Lexington and Third Avenue.
Few Schools or Hospitals: Given the density of office buildings in Midtown East, there are few schools or hospitals in the neighborhood. Those employed in education in Midtown East represent only 6% of the Manhattan total education employment. There are few hospitals or health care employment (8% of the Manhattan health services employment) in this submarket. But just south of 34th Street is NYU’s large hospital.
Source: Claritas, a Nielson Company
— Barbara Byrne Denham, Chief Economist, Eastern Consolidated
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