New Retail Delivers Stoke Leasing Activity

If there was one example that retailers are looking for quality space, it is the first quarter retail performance in San Diego. During the first quarter, new retail deliveries drove strong leasing activity as retailers took up the new class-A space. Deliveries totaled 178,642 square feet with the 101-square-foot Millenia Town Center coming to marker nearly fully leased. As a result, retail absorption totaled nearly 115,000 square feet in the first quarter, according to research from CBRE.

“New delivery really added to all of the activity,” Joe Yetter, first VP at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com. “We had an influx of new availability over the last eight months, and many of those spaces were absorbed in the first quarter. A lot of the activity was condensed into that three months, and it produced a strong quarter.”

The strong absorption was almost entirely driven by the new construction deliveries, which signed leases prior to delivery. “There wasn’t 100,000 square feet or 125,000 square feet of vacant space delivered,” adds Yetter. “A lot of the anchor spaces were delivered occupied, so you get a big push right there. That delivery was almost 100% absorbed when it was delivered. The bulk of it was already leased. That is a key for San Diego.”