Commercial Property Executive
The U.S. retail market closed 2019 with strong fundamentals, paving the way for a robust phase in 2020, according to JLL’s new fourth quarter 2019 Retail Outlook report. And shopping malls, thought to be on the road to extinction just a few years ago, helped buoy the numbers. The key to success: Experiential retail.
The retail market saw a vacancy rate of just 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019. Putting it all in perspective, the industrial market, currently an investor favorite due to the ever-blossoming e-commerce industry, recorded a vacancy rate of 5.1 percent according to another JLL report. Net absorption in the retail sector skyrocketed 34.5 percent quarter-over-quarter, reaching 10.5 million square feet, with malls leading the way. Mall absorption totaled 1 million square feet in the fourth quarter, as vacated space plummeted 40 percent year-over-year. Regional mall properties surpassed all other property types with 556.9 million square feet of positive net absorption.. . . more
