Strong economy not helping local retail landlords

The local retail vacancy rate is heading back up as many landlords continue to struggle with store closings and sluggish demand for their space.

Retail remains the one problem child in the booming real estate market, threatened by the rise of online shopping and the demise of chains like Carson’s and Toys R Us that occupied big chunks of space. Warnings of a coming retail apocalypse may be overblown, but new data from CBRE shows that the market for brick-and-mortar retail space continues to contract, belying a strong economy that’s lifting apartment, office and other property markets.

According to a CBRE survey, the Chicago-area retail vacancy rate rose to 11.5 percent in the first quarter, up from 11.1 percent at the end of 2018 and 11.4 percent a year earlier. The rate is also just shy of its most recent peak of 11.6 percent in second-quarter 2018...
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RSK: Smaller retail spaces seem to be doing fine....so, big box spaces may need to be divided into smaller spaces with different kinds of offerings...or put office or apartments above them as well.