Urban Land Institute provides stats for shopping centers

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"The Dollars and Cents of Shopping Centers: 2002," a comprehensive, analytical report on shopping center operations, now is available from the Urban Land Institute.|ret||ret||tab|

Operating statistics are provided for 960 U.S. shopping centers, including 219 super regional shopping centers, 138 regional shopping centers, 352 community shopping centers and 251 neighborhood shopping centers. According to a ULI press release, data for each category is presented by geographic region and by five age groups.|ret||ret||tab|

Here is a sampling of the findings:|ret||ret||tab|

Total tenant sales per square foot for all categories rose 0.8 percent between 2000 and 2002, from $224.48 per square foot to $226.22 per square foot. |ret||ret||tab|

For super regional shopping centers, tenant sales rose 0.1 percent to $222.26 per square foot; regional shopping centers, up 1.2 percent to $199.61; community shopping centers, up 2.5 percent to $223.78. |ret||ret||tab|

Neighborhood shopping centers experienced a 0.5 percent decline in tenant sales per square foot, dropping to $259.08. |ret||ret||tab|

At the same time, total receipts per square foot rose dramatically for all shopping centers, from $10.68 to $14.13, an increase of 32.3 percent increase. Increases in total receipts were most dramatic for regional and super regional centers. |ret||ret||tab|

"Combined with flat sales, a squeeze on tenants is apparent. This could hasten the continuing failure of obsolete stores," says Michael Beyard, ULI senior resident fellow and Martin Bucksbaum Chair for Retail and Entertainment.|ret||ret||tab|

Among the other findings in the report were: |ret||ret||tab|

The vacancy rate for super regional centers is 6 percent nationwide (down slightly from the 2000 survey), ranging from 3 percent in the East to 18 percent in the South. For regional centers, the vacancy rate is 9 percent nationwide (up slightly from 2000), ranging from 22 percent in the East to 7 percent in the Midwest. |ret||ret||tab|

A notable increase in vacancy rates occurred in strip centers, including community centers, with a 2 percent to 5 percent vacancy rate nationwide; and neighborhood centers, with a 2 percent to 9 percent vacancy rate nationwide. |ret||ret||tab|

Higher strip center vacancy rates re-flect an increasingly over-built situation with increasing obsolescence in this category. |ret||ret||tab|

Of the super regional centers included in the survey, 60 percent have undergone renovation and/or expansion in the past five years, a much higher percentage than in the 2000 survey (37 percent), re-flecting the increasingly vicious competition in this market segment as consumer behavior changes. |ret||ret||tab|

Also, 43 percent of the regional centers, 25 percent of the community centers and 24 percent of the neighborhood centers reported renovation and/or expansion activity since 1996. |ret||ret||tab|

According to Beyard, the story "be-hind the numbers" in the report is the momentous change taking place within the retail industry. |ret||ret||tab|

"The shopping center world has never been more competitive, and the consumer has never been more demanding. We are seeing shopping centers attempt to reinvent themselves through better integration with surrounding communities; increased attention to changing demographics, living patterns and life-styles; an intensified search for new tenant concepts to replace obsolete formats; and through more emphasis on the shopping environment and experience," Beyard said. "Increasingly, shopping centers are recognizing that their customers are shopping when they go out, rather than going out to shop. There's simply no tolerance for a traditional approach."|ret||ret||tab|

The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. [[In-content Ad]]