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The Greenville/Spartanburg retail market experienced a slight improvement in market conditions in the third quarter 2011.
The vacancy rate went from 7.0% in the previous quarter to 6.7% in the current quarter. Net absorption was positive 302,256 square feet, and vacant sublease space decreased by 58,998 square feet.
I have what I think is the perfect solution for this problem...will try to give you a short version of my idea...
I could never quite understand why there were/are so many commercial vacancies, not just here, but many places. It's actually quite an easy solution that so many people could positively benefit by at least trying.
For instance, those with commercial properties that have a large volume of empty spaces in their strip malls should be encouraged by local government to rent these spaces to people/businesses that have a strong desire to open a new small business in that area, who have the capital/goods to open but may not currently have the capital to pay the rent. I know many businesses, at least down in FL where we lived (and had businesses) will give you 3 free months rent, or reduce the rent over a period of months, or first year. Give these people who can show they are not fly-by-night businesses that make a habit of opening and closing a businesses to lose money, people that have a business plan, have a viable business that could benefit the area, who have a passion to make a go of it - give these people free rent or pay a "token rent amount" for a certain time, at least 6 months to a year and in return the local government gives the commercial landlord some type of a financial break to encourage this.
The business opens, it fills a space in that empty strip mall, thus, bringing more people and potentially more business to the strip mall and those businesses who are probably struggling to stay afloat in an almost empty strip mall. Government gives the property owner a tax break of some kind for doing this, so the landlord benefits from doing this, a financial incentive AND he fills a spot with a business that could potentially bring in long term rent in the future. The new business pays it's sales taxes, so the government does benefit from the business. These businesses hire locals to work, so now we have given those out of a job a job, and taken them off unemployment if they were still getting it. Given time those businesses could be very profitable for all those involved directly, and indirectly.
That's one scenario in a nutshell basically. There's more details, but you get the idea. There can only be winners if an idea like this could be followed. If I were an owner of a strip mall that was empty I wouldn't hesitate doing this at all. It's sure a lot better of an idea than having spaces sit vacant year after year, empty and not benefiting anyone.
This is the perfect solution, everyone would win! Just my 2 cents.
I have what I think is the perfect solution for this problem...will try to give you a short version of my idea...
I could never quite understand why there were/are so many commercial vacancies, not just here, but many places. It's actually quite an easy solution that so many people could positively benefit by at least trying.
For instance, those with commercial properties that have a large volume of empty spaces in their strip malls should be encouraged by local government to rent these spaces to people/businesses that have a strong desire to open a new small business in that area, who have the capital/goods to open but may not currently have the capital to pay the rent. I know many businesses, at least down in FL where we lived (and had businesses) will give you 3 free months rent, or reduce the rent over a period of months, or first year. Give these people who can show they are not fly-by-night businesses that make a habit of opening and closing a businesses to lose money, people that have a business plan, have a viable business that could benefit the area, who have a passion to make a go of it - give these people free rent or pay a "token rent amount" for a certain time, at least 6 months to a year and in return the local government gives the commercial landlord some type of a financial break to encourage this.
The business opens, it fills a space in that empty strip mall, thus, bringing more people and potentially more business to the strip mall and those businesses who are probably struggling to stay afloat in an almost empty strip mall. Government gives the property owner a tax break of some kind for doing this, so the landlord benefits from doing this, a financial incentive AND he fills a spot with a business that could potentially bring in long term rent in the future. The new business pays it's sales taxes, so the government does benefit from the business. These businesses hire locals to work, so now we have given those out of a job a job, and taken them off unemployment if they were still getting it. Given time those businesses could be very profitable for all those involved directly, and indirectly.
That's one scenario in a nutshell basically. There's more details, but you get the idea. There can only be winners if an idea like this could be followed. If I were an owner of a strip mall that was empty I wouldn't hesitate doing this at all. It's sure a lot better of an idea than having spaces sit vacant year after year, empty and not benefiting anyone.
This is the perfect solution, everyone would win! Just my 2 cents.
Good ideas... I'm sure some developers or management companies in the area do or have tried some of this.
On a tangent, I also think businesses should be encouraged (hesitate to say "required" as I tend to lean toward the Libertarian end of the philosophical spectrum) to use/renovate/enlarge existing structures like REI did rather than just automatically being issued a building permit to create more sprawl.
Last edited by Made_it_To_the_Metroplex; 11-16-2011 at 06:42 AM..
Too bad local government doesn't have some type of website that they ask the community for ideas on what they think could be changed/added/done to benefit the community. I bet you there are LOTS of individuals that have some very good solid ideas that could help the area in one way or another.
Then when they have their monthly meetings, take all the viable, no hair-brain ideas given and discuss them to see what they could use to benefit all. If there is such a site, I don't know about it.
Some of these strip malls have one or two tenants trying to do business while the vast amount of store fronts are vacant. Not only is it uninviting for people, it sometimes look unsafe. ALSO, many of those commercial property owners who have a lot of empty store fronts and are probably losing money due to no tenants do not keep up the properties due to lack of income, and it shows. Many of these strip malls need some TLC and updating. So here's the another thing they could do in lieu of rent...new tenants have to agree to upkeep the property such as cleaning up the grounds of trash, emptying common garbage cans, if there's grass, cut it, sweep walkways and such. Helping in such ways help everyone once again.
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