The return of the eternally undead consumers to the suburban mall signals that retail may rise again.
A CB Richard Ellis report released today shows that shopping center availability will begin to decline next year. For once that means the boroughs may have it best, as the report’s findings apply primarily to mega-complexes in places like Long Island, including Brooklyn and Queens, a CBRE spokesman said.
New York—outer-boroughs included—comprises one of 14 markets that saw a decline in the availability of retail space this year, meaning more shops and stores opening up. That puts the city a bit ahead of the real estate curve, as across the country retail availability is expected to decline starting in 2011. Shooting ahead, however, are San Francisco, Newark, Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Trenton.
Consumer spending was up 0.4 percent nationally in July, according to the Commerce Department, but only after three previous lackluster months.
Still, we’re coming off “some of the lowest points in retail sales history,” the report’s author, CBRE economist Abigail Marks, cautioned.
