Austin Retains Foothold on Retail Occupancy

AUSTIN, TX—The Austin metro currently reports 95.8% retail occupancy, making it the strongest market in Texas in terms of occupancy. The occupancy rate is based on a retail market inventory of 49.5 million square feet in projects with 25,000 square feet or more.

During the past year, Austin added only 670,000 square feet in only a handful of new projects. The metro is posting more construction activity for 2019, with new projects anchored by the likes of Whole Foods, H-E-B and LA Fitness, along with mixed-use projects including significant specialty retail components.

One of the most active components is restaurant with popular concepts ranging from quick serve to white tablecloth. Many redevelopment projects including Plaza Saltillo, the Blueprint Building and Fareground at One Eleven, have heavy restaurant tenancy.

“Our team is in the market, on the ground every day, and that’s the only way to really know where the opportunities are for our tenant rep clients in a market as tight as this one,” Matt Epple, newly promoted executive vice president/director of brokerage for Weitzman, tells GlobeSt.com. “We also lease a large retail portfolio, and we continue to see leasing demand from restaurants, entertainment and services and, to a lesser extent, medical and dental tenants. The Austin area’s restaurant market in particular remains extremely active, and if concepts close, their spaces are typically re-leased quickly if they are in strong locations.”

In this new role, Epple will oversee the Austin office’s brokerage team and continue to specialize in tenant representation, investment sales and project representation. He represents Chase Bank, Wingstop, Anytime Fitness and a number of local Austin businesses.

Currently, the Weitzman Austin brokerage team is responsible for leasing more than 10 million square feet in projects ranging from office properties and small neighborhood strips to large regional-draw power and specialty retail destinations.