United Front (JPM)

Real Estate Managers and Municipalities Tackle Empty Storefronts by Working Together

by Diana Mirel

The following is an excerpt from the May/Jun 2010 issue (Volume 75, Number 3) of JPM^®, Journal of Property Management.

Nothing indicates economic downturn like empty storefronts.

Retail vacancy rates are closely tied to unemployment: As unemployment rises, retail vacancies spike as well. Such vacancies are not only a concern for property managers and owners struggling to fill empty stores; these vacancies affect the entire municipality in which they are located.

“If a retail location goes vacant, the city is going to generate less tax revenue off of that,” said John Fox, principal of Fox Realty Advisors in Indianapolis. “The area in which these properties are in may also be become blighted or challenged, and that can be very contagious.”

Thus, many municipalities are getting more aggressive and proactive in helping property owners, managers and developers identify and execute solutions to combat retail vacancies.

“With the changing and challenging economic picture, it is more important than ever that the public and private sectors cooperate with each other to promote future retail development,” said Frances Spencer, SCSM/SCMD, principal of the Pendulum Partners in Chicago. “Neither sector can have success without the cooperation of the other.”

The full article is available as an online exclusive in the May/Jun 2010 issue of JPM^®, Journal of Property Management.

IREM Members have free access to the JPM online archives and the "Online Exclusives," articles that are only available on the IREM Web site. Non-members can subscribe to JPM at www.irem.org/jpm.