Publix is the secret to a successful Broward shopping center, study says
Publix isn’t just one of the most popular grocery chains in South Florida. It’s also the key to successful shopping centers in Broward, according to a new study.
The 2019 third quarter report by the real estate investment/management firm 11th St. Capital analyzes vacancy rates in Broward’s 599 shopping centers over 20,000 square feet. According to the report, the market’s average occupancy rate went down over the last six months, from 89.8% to 89.7%. But the drop may be temporary.
“With such a high median occupancy, landlords of well located, high-quality centers have the negotiating leverage over retailers,” Joshua Ladle, founder and CEO of 11th St. Capital, said in a statement. “Having driven these centers multiple times over the years and tracked their occupancy, those centers that are at Main-and-Main don’t stay vacant for very long. It’s the other centers—those that are outside of that main retail corridor—that you need to worry about.”
Ladle drove by each shopping center in August and September to study changes in the market.
The 84 shopping centers that had Publix as a tenant had an average occupancy of 93.6% and a median occupancy of 96.1%.
According to the study, “many retailers desire to lease space in Publix-anchored centers because of the quality of the grocer and its ability to bring strong customer traffic to the center. These retailers hope that the traffic will translate into more dollars in their cash registers as these grocery shoppers also pick up their dry cleaning, drop off the kids to karate lessons and grab some Chinese food for dinner.”
The median occupancy rate of all the shopping centers in the study was 95.2%. But that rate is projected to improve even more, judging by the 640,000 square feet of currently vacant storefronts with “Coming Soon” signage.
Some of those occupants include big-box retailers Aldi, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less and Burlington.
This story was originally published September 26, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
