Luxury Retail Returns: Kazuko Morgan on San Francisco’s Resurgence

San Francisco’s luxury retail market is showing signs of strength, and few know it better than Kazuko Morgan, Executive Vice Chairman at Cushman & Wakefield and the Brandmarch Local Expert for several top Bay Area high streets. Over the past two months, Morgan has closed a string of high-profile leases, signaling renewed confidence in the city’s retail landscape.

In the Union Square district, Morgan negotiated the leases for Bulgari at 200 Grant Ave., Burberry at 110 Geary Street and an expansion for Goyard at 118 Grant Avenue. In addition, Morgan brokered Paul Smith to occupy space at 463 Jackson Street in the city’s Jackson Square district.

[***Please note: in an earlier posting, we had incorrectly credited Kazuko Morgan with negotiating the Patek Phillipe lease at 259 Post Street; it was actually Julie Taylor of Colliers who successfully negotiated that lease deal. We at Brandmarch apologize for the mistake.]

Morgan states, “We have noticed a shift the past few months. Spaces that come onto the market are leased up quickly. Except for Downtown and Union Square, we are back to competitive offers with minimal landlord concessions. But even in Union Square, we are seeing good tenant interest and touring activity. The world has figured out that San Francisco is so much better than what the media portrays. There's vibrancy, a lot of other new tenant openings, expansions and retail building sales happening across the city.”