Despite the demand for dollar stores, Belk tells GlobeSt.com that he expects retail construction in Florida to remain slow in the near term. Indeed, he says dollar stores and other discount retailers who are continuing to have aggressive growth plans in the state are the exception.

“The majority of the larger projects that were put on hold during the real estate downturn have remained slow to pick back up,” Belk says. “This is due to developers having difficulties with obtaining construction financing for larger scale projects due to lenders scrutinizing deals much more meticulously.”

As Belk sees it, Florida is a target market for a lot of these discount oriented tenants because of the fixed income demographic base and growing metropolitans of the state. Florida has continued to experience interest from investors in pursuing properties in Florida because of this, he says, and it has lead to a lot of bidders for the Dollar General and Family Dollar deals the firm has marketed.

“Leasing should continue to pick up in core markets and in necessity-based anchored centers, such as Publix anchored centers,” Belk concludes. “More tertiary markets should continue to experience higher levels of vacancy.”