Excess of Commercial Spots in Strip Malls (Raleigh, Apex: foreclose, lease)

[JJingle]

Numerous strip malls are being constructed in Raleigh. It seems like after one or two anchor stores open. The majority of the remaining stores have For Lease signs in them. Is this normal? Meaning do these places really pick up tenants in a reasonable amount of time?

Most recently I've noticed this trend in the strip mall across from Triangle Town Center. (There are several large stores in there...Marshall's, BJ's, Circuit City, but there are a lot of empty spaces.) I've also noticed it in the shopping area off 401 with the new Lowes grocery.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by JJingle

Numerous strip malls are being constructed in Raleigh. It seems like after one or two anchor stores open. The majority of the remaining stores have For Lease signs in them. Is this normal? Meaning do these places really pick up tenants in a reasonable amount of time?

Most recently I've noticed this trend in the strip mall across from Triangle Town Center. (There are several large stores in there...Marshall's, BJ's, Circuit City, but there are a lot of empty spaces.) I've also noticed it in the shopping area off 401 with the new Lowes grocery.

This is something that I too have wondered about for some time. I know of multiple strip malls in Raleigh that have had numerous empty retail space since the day they were constructed and it has now been well over a year since they were completed. I just don't understand why they keep getting built while existing locations are still empty. I am not anti-growth, but it seems like growth for the sake of growth when you just keep building retail space that there is no demand for.

Falls River Strip Mall expanded last year and yet most of the new spaces still remain vacant. There are a few strip malls adjacent to brier creek that have been vacant for well over a year.

And don't even get me started on office/medical space development. Those places are popping up all along Falls of Neuse and Creedmoor road, yet I know of several that sit vacant. I watched one get built over 2 years ago on Creedmoor Road, yet it is completely vancant to this day. Drove down creedmoor the other day and another office/medical building is being constructed about 300 yards away.

I guess somebody is making money off of these ventures but I don't see how. I could understand if there was high demand for this type of space, but the constant "For Lease" signs I see everywhere seem to indicate otherwise.

What the heck is going on?

What happens when the bank forecloses on a strip mall?

[saturnfan]

A bunch of morons playing follow the leader building unneeded stores.

[tsstriangle]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

A bunch of morons playing follow the leader building unneeded stores.

You got it. This isn't NY or DC people. The population might be growing, but it's still small compared to other parts of the country. Someone sees a business making money and says "I can do that too!". Then you build across the street and now nobody is making money.

Also, what's with the Walgreens and Eckerd right across the street from each other everywhere you go? If they could build a Walgreens next to the Eckerd by the 540 exit at Falls of Neuse I'm sure they would. That is the only pharmacy I know of that doesn't have another pharmacy across the street. Have you seen this trend? There's one area where there's these two AND a CVS! All at the same intersection!

In response to the original question, vacant stores are everywhere. It seems every small town is being overrun by development. Beaver Creek in Apex is half empty and now they're planning to build a brand new Wal-Mart and a ton of other stuff across the way!

[saturnfan]

And the new strip mall space creates vacancies in older strips that can deteriorate into trash.

A lid needs to be put on this stupid development.

[tsstriangle]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

And the new strip mall space creates vacancies in older strips that can deteriorate into trash.

A lid needs to be put on this stupid development.

Yeah, and I think Winn-Dixie played a part in that too with some of these older strip malls!

[nynraleigh]

Originally Posted by saturnfan

A bunch of morons playing follow the leader building unneeded stores.

haha, that's great...so true though

[ALT-X]

Originally Posted by JJingle

Numerous strip malls are being constructed in Raleigh. It seems like after one or two anchor stores open. The majority of the remaining stores have For Lease signs in them. Is this normal? Meaning do these places really pick up tenants in a reasonable amount of time?

Most recently I've noticed this trend in the strip mall across from Triangle Town Center. (There are several large stores in there...Marshall's, BJ's, Circuit City, but there are a lot of empty spaces.) I've also noticed it in the shopping area off 401 with the new Lowes grocery.

Both of these strip malls you gave as examples are still new. When a new strip mall/shopping center is built it is common for the anchor stores to be the first businesses to lease space. They are often finished and open for business before smaller tenants decide take the same plunge. This is common practice in this area and all other states I've lived in.

It takes smaller tenants a lot longer to weigh the pros and cons of opening up shop. They have to be sure that they can be successful in a given location, a lot more sure than a grocery store (like Lowes on 401, an area where any grocery store is going to be successful due to the lack of current grocery options). I don't think you have to worry about all those vacant shops you described in your other location off of Capital near the Circuit City either. Eventually, all of those will be full as well, that part of Capital has a nice mix of affluent and working class residential areas near it and over time you'll see all that available retail space will be utilized. It's a good place to do business.

There will always be vacancies in strip centers, businesses fail for a variety of reasons but in this area I don't think it's bad at all. The worst strip center I've personally noticed over the years as far as vacancies and business turnover has been the Pleasant Valley Promenade shopping center on Glenwood Ave. This is an older, established shopping center and the tenants seem to be constantly changing for whatever reason. I've heard the owner of this shopping center tries to charge outlandish rent per square foot and that is why their is so much turnover.

You have to look at ESTABLISHED places if you're trying to say this area has a problem though, new shopping centers always take while to fill their vacancies.