CHICAGO—The struggles of retailers to meet the challenge presented by e-commerce is probably one of the most studied aspects of commercial real estate today. But those struggles don't mean investors have no options.
“Retail is not totally getting killed,” Chad M. Firsel, president of Quantum Real Estate Advisors, Inc., tells GlobeSt.com. In fact, “the smaller, $1 million to $3 million strips with service-oriented tenants are seeing a ton of activity.”
Furthermore, developers remain cautious about launching new projects. In the past 12 months, roughly 76.5 million square feet of space was delivered, but the market recorded more than 80 million square feet of absorption, according to Quantum's latest shopping center report. As a result, shopping centers continue to have tight single digit vacancy rates across all types of retail real estate averaging at 4.6% nationally. “When people do buy,” Firsel says, “they are less concerned about some developer creating competing product.”
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
