National + Retail | January 13, 2023

Streets of Woodfield shopping center Schaumburg IL

Shopping Center Vacancy Reaches Historic Lows

Retail shopping center real estate markets remained strong in the fourth quarter of 2022, as resilient demand drove shopping center vacancies to the lowest level on record dating back to 2007 according to Cushman & Wakefield Research. Asking rents for shopping centers rose broadly nationwide by 0.8% quarter-over-quarter to an average of $22.99 per square foot, while the vacancy rate declined 20 basis points to 5.7% and net absorption accelerated to 10.9 million square feet.

Looking at demand regionally, 66 of the 81 markets tracked by Cushman & Wakefield experienced positive net absorption, with Chicago, Phoenix, Atlanta, Denver, Washington, DC, Dallas/Fort Worth and New York City leading the way.

“The economic backdrop has become highly uncertain over the last several months, with retailers preparing for more challenging conditions in 2023, yet retail fundamentals have not yet flinched,” said Barrie Scardina, head of retail services at Cushman & Wakefield.

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Inside The Story

Cushman & Wakefield's Scardina

About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).