News
Retail Rush
November 28, 2012
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| The recovery of the consumer confidence (fiscal cliff aside, for just a moment) means renewed efforts to fill up vacant Charlotte-area retail space. That means inking leases before new development moves from drawing board to shovels. Merrifield Patrick Vermillion's director of retail services Keely Simerville tells us her task is leasing up Ballantyne Village (about 38k SF vacant). Recently Bank of America, which services the 170k SF mixed-use asset for its owner, hired the company to get that vacancy number down. | ||
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| ?Ballantyne Village isn't as strongly anchored as the Blakeneys or Stonecrests of the world, so it will be a bit of challenge,? Keely says, but adds that the property has a good location, high visibility, and a strong mix of existing tenants, especially restaurants. (The way to a tenant's heart remains through the stomach.) The goal now is to go after non-food users, such as boutique clothing,furnishings, even a martini bar with a nightlife component that isn't focused on food. One strategy will be to get pass-through charges down, she notes, since historically they've been relatively high at the property, hurting its competitiveness. |
