Retail Leasing Tips and Ideas for Commercial Property Agents

When it comes to your career as a retail leasing expert, market knowledge will help you greatly when it comes to market share and market dominance.  The retail property market is quite specific and special.  There are many factors to consider and be aware of the as part of the specialized leasing task.

Retail property today is experiencing some challenges.  The shifts in retail spending and due to the pressures of the Internet are quite apparent.  There are also other pressures on retail that apply due to the global economic downturn.

That being said, retail spending doesn’t disappear, it just changes.  That is why a retail property experts and particularly leasing specialists are perhaps some of the most skillful in the property market.  They know what works and what doesn’t.

Here are some factors that require constant attention as part of servicing the retail leasing industry and shopping centers today.

1. It is wise to have a solid awareness of the significant and larger retail properties across your region.  They will have pressures of change, refurbishment, expansion, and contraction.  Those pressures will have influence on nearby competing properties and the movement of successful tenancies between each.
2. Franchise groups are now on a significant part of retail property performance.  In many respects, they require occupancy opportunities in certain locations and property types.  It pays to keep in close contact with the franchise groups for this very reason.  They will have critical criteria that must be satisfied when it comes to a new tenancy and property occupation.  They will usually share this information with the other retail leasing experts that could assist them with finding another tenancy.  It is all so common for those retail groups to provide their own special lease documentation.  Whilst this is convenient, it also has some concerns for some landlords.  If you are involved with a lease negotiation of this type, the landlord for the property (your client) should have a good property solicitor acting on their behalf in the scrutiny of the franchise lease document.  In most cases, the franchise lease document will coincide with the terms and conditions of the franchise business agreement struck between the franchisee and the franchisor.  Landlord flexibility is required to make this balance work.
3. Rental strategies in retail property will vary from property to property and location to location.  The rental for a tenancy is simply not just the commencing rent.  It is a combination of many things including the commencing rents, the rent review profile, any lease incentive, and outgoings recovery.  The right combination of these things will help improve the occupancy for the tenant and the landlord.
4. In any retail property, the tenancy mix will be important to the stability of occupancy and relationships between tenants.  In larger shopping centers, this problem manifests itself in many ways.  It pays to consider the clustering of tenants in zones within the property.  In this way you can build on the sales relationships between like tenants in the cluster.

Retail leasing experts will usually spend significant time in the marketplace reviewing the performance of nearby properties, and meeting with retail tenants.  These factors will produce market intelligence and feedback that allows the retail leasing expert to bring experience and relevance to the clients that they act for.