Consultant Sees New Retail Surge Ahead

ORLANDO-The metro area’s record 50-million-sf retail inventory will look puny in the years ahead if the shopping center growth projections of industry consultant David W. Marks even come close to the mark.

Completing a two-year study of over 100 US town centers and downtown districts, Marks finds fast-growing Florida markets will need 5.6 million sf to six million sf of new retail developments annually for the next seven years at least to keep up with the needs of newly arriving residents.

That number is the equivalent of five regional malls such as Mall at Millenia (1.3 million sf) and Seminole town Center (1.1 million sf), he says. Marks is president of Maitland, FL-based Marketplace Advisors Inc.