Fashion boutique Angel Divine will move from its prime Queenstown Mall location to an empty property in Church St on August 1 for six months, then again to its permanent location on Searle Lane.
Owner Sally Bulling-Eady said she was paying about $12,000 a month, plus operational expenses, for the 124sq m mall shop.
Five years ago, it was costing her just over $8000.
"Everything is becoming the same. You go to Auckland and you find the same chain stores as [they have] here. With high rents, small point-of-difference businesses like ours will be forced to close or relocate and the big stores will move in."
A large Australian chain store was expected to replace the boutique.
Mrs Bulling-Eady's move coincides with new independent research that says it is cheaper to rent commercial property in Wellington's Courtenay Pl, Christchurch's City Mall and Columbo St, and the central business districts of several major cities than it is in Queenstown's CBD.
Colliers International reports that Queenstown's net prime rents per square metre start at $850 and could rise to $1500.
Despite high rents, Colliers said it was still seeing strong demand for prime CBD or industrial property in the resort from tenants and buyers.
There was a softening in demand for secondary commercial and industrial premises as tenants took a "wait and see" approach.
Colliers managing director Alastair Wood, of Queenstown, said rents were not so high until the mid-1990s, when major brands started focusing on the resort.
"We've seen a greater number of national, Australasian and international retailers coming into Queenstown. It's such an iconic town they want their brand to be here and are prepared to pay those higher rents."
He estimated there were 50-60 landlords within the central business district and rents were set at supply and demand rates.
By comparison, Queenstown's neighbours pay considerably less. Frankton rents are $300-$650 a square metre, Arrowtown rents are $250-600 and Wanaka rents are $300-$500.
Mr Wood said it came down to foot traffic.
"Arrowtown's Buckingham St, from a rental perspective, is seasonal and they haven't got the visitor accommodation Queenstown has. There's a lot of the day when they're relatively quiet and the rents reflect that."
Mrs Bulling-Eady said Queenstown's CBD rents staying at the same level as city shopping centres could not be justified because of the resort's much smaller population and consistent visitor numbers.
Mr Wood predicted rents would continue to rise. New developments attracted a 10%-15% premium, which raised the benchmark.
"The rental levels are established by a willing landlord and a willing tenant, and while the international retailers want to be here, the rental levels will stay the same."
Remarkables Park and the 15 retail spaces proposed for the ground floor of the complex at the Frankton intersection offered alternatives for independent operators looking for cheaper rents, he said.
However, Mitre 10 Megastore and Harvey Norman were preparing to move into purpose-built premises in Frankton.
There were two premises empty on Queenstown's Earl St, one on Church St and one in the Queenstown Mall.
There was more retail space planned in the Post Office Precinct and Church St developments.
