CHICAGO—The Chicago retail market has shown a good deal of strength since 2015, but the growth of e-commerce continues to limit the amount of space taken by tenants. That was the finding of researchers from Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, who plan to release their Chicago Retail Equinox Report at the International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Las Vegas this week.
Both the downtown and suburban retail markets experienced positive absorption for a third consecutive quarter. As a result, overall vacancy declined 20 bps to 7.8%. Although the market got off to a slow start in 2015, since then absorption totaled over 3.6 million square feet. At 7.1%, the downtown's vacancy rate improved by 260 bps after 106,000 square feet of absorption. The suburbs posted 616,000 square feet of absorption, driving vacancy down 10 bps to 7.9%, the lowest rate since late 2008.
“Chicago retail is in a stable, solid position overall,” Jim Schutter, senior managing director of NGKF, tells GlobeSt.com. “We also have new development happening in infill areas that are underserved.”
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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.
