Landlords Are Easily Backfilling Big Boxes

Irvine, CA

When Toys R Us announced plans to shutter its stores this year, the retail market went reeling, wondering what would happen to the surge of big box spaces that would inevitably hit the market. While we have yet to realize the full impact of these store closures, Orange County has been shaking off the worry. With a 3.5% vacancy rate, according to the most recent research from CBRE, the Orange County market has been able to backfill these big box easily as users in the 20,000-squre-foot to 30,000-square-foot size range are looking for quality space.

According to the CBRE report, discount retailers like TJ Maxx and Ross have been most active in leasing former Toys R Us locations, as well as Party City, which has leased several locations temporarily for pop-up experiences. Additionally, grocers have been active in leasing these spaces. “Most landlords aren’t having a hard time filling boxes, and at rents that are decent,” Walter Pagel, SVP at CBRE, tells GlobeStc.om. “In some instances those boxes will need to be split up, but most of the vacant boxes are in regional locations, not in neighborhood locations.”