A walking tour of Broward County retail

5/7/2018
To really know what’s going on in the world, there’s nothing like lacing up your sneakers and taking to the streets to find out first-hand.

Avison Young researchers did just that recently in Broward County, Florida, home to Fort Lauderdale. They visited 590 centers sized 20,000 sq. ft. and larger, counting vacated boxes, “coming soon” signs, and construction crews to gather some quality insights.

• Publix rules in Broward. The legendary Florida-based supermarket chain fields 82 stores, laying claim to half he grocery anchored centers in the county. The banners of 22 different grocers top the remaining 91 supermarkets, but that doesn’t mean business is spotty for them. “Specialty grocers do well here. Sprouts and Lucky’s are both looking to expand their presence,” said Avison Young senior associate Joshua Ladle.

• Forty-seven big boxes and 34 junior boxes are vacant, but many are quickly being turned to other uses. “Coming Soon” signs were observed in windows of stores adding up to 280,000-sq.-ft. of retail space that, when open for business, will lift Broward County’s occupancy rate back to the 90.9% it posted a year ago. “Many are being transitioned to new uses like town homes and charter schools,” Ladle said.

• Twenty-six centers are in various stages of redevelopment and nine new centers are being built, ranging in size from 30,000 sq. ft. to 320,000 sq. ft. This plus the new tenants coming online presents a positive outlook for retail in Broward, according to Avison Young.

“A 90% vacancy rate is pretty average, and new construction numbers are in line with local standards. We don’t envision an over-building situation,” Ladle said.

Connect with me on LinkedIn | Follow me on Twitter
X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds