NEW YORK CITY-After the downturn, vacant storefronts and shuttered stores lined the blocks of one of Manhattan’s most unlikely neighborhoods--the Upper East Side. But as strong residential growth continues to boom in the area, the 86^th Street corridor between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenues is experiencing a mini-revival from a fresh batch of new national tenants.

The latest retail report from the Real Estate Board of New York shows a 36% increase in retail rents along the 86^th Street corridor since fall 2010 and 20% since the spring. Rents for ground floor space have gone from $293 per square foot to $398 per square foot, a sign the well-to-do neighborhood is regaining its footing. “There is a sense that the area is improving and people are willing to be more aggressive in rents,” Michael Slattery, senior vice president of REBNY tells GlobeSt.com. “The quality of the spaces that have come on line are also quite good, which also tends to bump up the asking rents.”

The centerpiece of the neighborhood’s renaissance is the arrival of grocer Fairway Market, who took a long-term 45,283-square-foot, long-term lease on four levels, including, 13,650 square feet on the ground floor, 11,150 square feet on the mezzanine, 16,000 square feet on the lower level and 4,483 square feet of sub-cellar space at 240 E. 86^th St. The market--the first new supermarket to move into the Upper East Side in nearly 30 years--filled the bones of a former Circuit City.

Gary Alterman, executive vice president of Robert K. Futterman and Associates, the firm that arranged the deal, tells GlobeSt.com that the Upper East Side retail market is reviving to old levels as a result. “The market had dropped all over from 3^rd Avenue dramatically,” he says, noting that average rents are inching back to the mid-$200s to $300 mark. “Fairway’s replacement was great for the block and great for the foot traffic both to the west and east of it,” he says. “Now you are getting people coming from as far as East End Avenue coming over to Fairway. They aren’t just going to the subway any longer. There is a reason for them to stop and shop.”

In close proximity to the site, other retailers have set up shop, like Athleta at 1517 3^rd Ave., Patagonia at 1491 3^rd Ave., SoulCycle at 1470 3^rd Ave. and Chipotle at 1497 3^rd Ave. Alterman says new leases for Brookstone, Panera Bread and Coffee Bean & Tea are also in the pipeline.

Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing, marketing and sales at Prudential Douglas Elliman, tells GlobeSt.com that 86^th Street has also reemerged as a shopping destination for not just Upper East Side residents, but surrounding neighborhoods such as Harlem. “The fashion follows the food, and Fairway just completes the piece to the puzzle,” she says. “86^th Street had a lot of large spaces last year, but now that’s all filled in. It’s just made it a whole different portfolio.”