Financial

• Monthly rent: $35,000
• Annual rent: $420,000
• Rent per SF/month: $21.88
• Rent per SF/year: $262.50
• Approximate monthly cost per 1,000 SF: $21,875
• Lease length: To be confirmed / negotiable
• Additional charges: To be confirmed

The location is a major strength. Columbus Avenue is one of the Upper West Side’s principal neighborhood retail corridors, supported by a dense residential population, restaurants, cafés, boutiques, fitness concepts, schools, and daily-service businesses. The area benefits from consistent neighborhood foot traffic rather than relying entirely on office workers or destination shoppers.

The surrounding customer profile can work particularly well for food and beverage, specialty food, beauty, wellness, fitness, boutique retail, pet-related concepts, medical or service businesses, and other neighborhood-oriented uses. The Upper West Side tends to reward concepts that generate repeat local visits and fit naturally into the surrounding residential community.

The 1,600-SF footprint is large enough for a meaningful retail operation without becoming excessively large. Depending on the configuration, the space could support a substantial sales floor, customer seating, treatment or service rooms, storage, kitchen or preparation areas, and back-of-house functions.

At $35,000 per month, however, the rent requires a business with meaningful revenue capacity. A retailer or restaurant should carefully model expected sales and occupancy cost before committing, particularly if there are additional taxes, CAM, utilities, or construction expenses.

The asking basis of $262.50/SF/year places the space at the higher end of the retail opportunities you have been reviewing. At this pricing, I would want to see strong storefront visibility, meaningful frontage, good ceiling height, an efficient ground-floor layout, and limited non-selling space.

For a food-and-beverage user, existing infrastructure could materially affect the economics. If the property already has venting, gas, grease traps, sufficient electrical service, plumbing, or kitchen infrastructure, the higher rent may be easier to justify because the tenant could save considerably on buildout costs.

I would confirm ground-floor SF, basement or storage inclusion, storefront frontage, ceiling height, signage rights, HVAC, electrical capacity, bathrooms, ADA accessibility, delivery condition, and any additional real-estate-tax or CAM charges.

For restaurant or café use, I would specifically verify venting, gas service, grease trap, kitchen infrastructure, liquor-license feasibility, occupancy limits, outdoor seating potential, certificate-of-occupancy compliance, and permitted use.

I would also clarify whether the $35,000/month is gross or modified gross, and whether the tenant is responsible for real-estate-tax increases, CAM, insurance, utilities, garbage removal, or other operating expenses. At this rent level, those additional charges can materially increase the true occupancy cost.

Overall, 522 Columbus Avenue is a strong-location but expensive Upper West Side retail opportunity. Its strongest attributes are the Columbus Avenue frontage, dense residential surroundings, neighborhood foot traffic, and useful 1,600-SF size. At $262.50/SF/year, the asking rent needs to be supported by excellent frontage, a productive ground-floor layout, and ideally valuable existing infrastructure.