February 8th, 2019
Retail
Overall market occupancy equaled 92 percent at year-end 2018, unchanged from a year ago. This confirms that there has been little overall movement in the aggregate market but belies all the activity behind the numbers. The underlying fact is that retail continues to grow, both nationally and locally. We added 650,000 square feet of space in centers over 25,000 square feet this past year, maintained occupancy, and, for the most part, rents. Much of the pain of the last few years is over – store closings have declined, downsizing is still taking place but at a reasonable rate, and retail layoffs have leveled off.
