CHICAGO—The development of new shopping centers throughout Chicagoland continues to proceed at a relatively slow pace. Developers now usually finish between one and two million square feet of new retail development per year, according to Chicagoland 2017 Shopping Center Report by Mid-America Real Estate Corp. But although the years of five million plus square feet of new retail are gone, grocery-driven projects and smaller footprint urban developments are here to stay.

Shopping center development in the region fell from 2.07 million square feet in 2015 to 1.5 million square feet in 2016, a 26% decrease, Mid-America found. The firm anticipates another 31% decrease for 2017, with an all-time low of about one million square feet planned for the coming year. The data show that new shopping center development has decreased by 79% since 2005. But that doesn't mean the world of retail has become stagnant.

“The reality is retail, like other industries, is changing to adapt with customer expectations and preferences,” says Andy Bulson, Mid-America principal/director of suburban tenant representation and author of the new report. “While new construction is not as robust as previous years, adaptive reuse of existing retail space continues to offer an opportunity for expanding retailers.”