He added, while explaining his firm's data analysis: "We're making sure that people are physically in the buildings for two hours or more, [making sure] those are people actually showing up to work and the fact that New York is one of the top [for] return-to-office in the country. No doubt [that] has a great impact on retail."

In Avison Young's third quarter investment sales report, Manhattan retail sales grew by 22 percent from the previous three months to $318.1 million.

Glodowski spoke on the core fundamentals that NYC has always had and because of that, the city has always been able to rebound, even when there were slowdowns because of the pandemic. He calls the metro area something that's "hyper desirable" — which has been that way for the "longest period of time."

"New York City is getting back to the bread and butter of what it has sort of always been," Glodowski emphasized.

"I think we're just kind of getting back to the normalcy given all the fundamentals that New York City has to offer."

POSITIVE SENTIMENT CHANGE

As for retail and CRE in general, in NYC, Nelson notes that the "psychology" in the market is starting to change as the Federal Reserve has moved to cut interest rates.

"You have a lot of buyers and sellers alike getting off the sidelines," he said.

"We're feeling it with a lot of the assignments that we're out there in the market with."

Glodowski further explained that even tenants are now looking to buy and own spaces outright, in particular.

"They're switching from the tenant to sort of the landlord side, and taking advantage of the market conditions" he noted.

HEADWINDS SHOULDN'T CHANGE THE MINDSET

Of course, as with any industry or asset class — headwinds arrive. But regardless, those in the retail space should be prioritizing what makes their properties or products most attractive, according to Nelson. How do you do that? Talk and consult professionals in the industry who know how to "program" space, he highlighted.

"I think it's important to think about how you program retail," Nelson said.

"Because when you do it right you can really have a positive impact there."

Going into 2025, Meghann Martindale, leader of retail market intelligence for Avison Young thinks there will be a "dynamic resurgence" for the industry as interest rates are expected to continue to drop and "pricing transparency" improves. On the flip side, she predicts that store closures and bankruptcies will elevate — but overall retail looks like it's in a good place in the short term.

"There will be more creative disruption including store closures and retailer bankruptcies; but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing," Martindale said.

"As new space becomes available, combined with record-low construction, opportunities for innovation, remerchandising and maximizing property performance will pop up. This will be a significant driver for the fundamentals of retail real estate in 2025."