Bloomberg – Finding a parking spot for your Mercedes or BMW on Greenwich Avenue, the main shopping strip of the U.S. hedge-fund capital, used to be a challenge. Not anymore.

With the recession hammering retail sales, empty curbside spaces abound along the suburban Connecticut thoroughfare, known as the Rodeo Drive of the northeast, and “For Rent” signs decorate vacant storefronts. Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and Borders have all closed their Greenwich Avenue locations.

As banks and hedge funds cut jobs or close down in the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, Greenwich merchants are suffering sales declines. Some stores are simply packing it in. Many are renegotiating rents, cutting inventory or offering cheaper products.

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Tags: 1930s, banks, bmw, borders, connecticut, financial crisis, financial futures, government involvement, greenwich, mercedes, merchants, new york state comptroller, NY State Pension Fund Linked to Millions in Kickbacks from Private Equity, Hedge Funds, recession, rents, retail-sales, signs, york state comptroller

The Independent – Rents for plush offices in Mayfair and St James’s plunged almost 30 per cent last year, hammered by the declining fortunes of many of their hedge funds tenants.

The commercial property agency NB Real Estate has released new research that shows the rent in swanky west London offices tumbled from £120 per square foot at the end of 2007 to £85 at the end of last year, a consequence of a bad year for hedge funds. They have been vilified for short selling bank shares, have suffered mass redemptions and experienced their worst ever full-year losses.

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Tags: commercial property agency, consequence, fortunes, london-offices, losses, mayfair, real-estate, redemptions, rents, square foot, st-james, west london