Retail tenants are very different when it comes to leasing needs and property choices. They are more demanding and selective when you compare them to office or industrial tenants. For this reason we should and do have leasing specialists that relate to the retail property and understand retail business.
Stand-alone retail properties are quite easy to assess and compare to other properties in the same area. It is the shopping centres that demand real skill and knowledge. If you aspire to be a retail leasing executive, start to build you knowledge of shopping centres and tenancy mix.
Retail properties survive and thrive if the property is of high standard and the tenant mix is well considered and structured. When the retail economy gets slow or tough, you must have the right tenants in your property that complement each other and serve the customers well.
Here are some factors that most retailers look for when considering a retail shop in a shopping centre:
- Growth of sales should be possible from the customer visits to the property. Look at the visits of customers to the shopping centre on a daily basis.
- Property location on a main road will help customer visits and sales.
- Property presentation and maintenance. Tenants don’t want to struggle in a poorly maintained shopping complex.
- Car parking should be convenient for tenants and shoppers. Convenience is a big thing when it comes to the layout and access to a shopping centre.
- Store layout, store frontage, tenancy size, signage and positioning will all be relative to the tenant’s product or service. Well positioned stores should attract a premium in rental for the high profile position.
- Lease terms and conditions will be important to both the tenant and the landlord; albeit from different perspectives. Understand who your client is in the lease negotiation and just what the market rents are doing in the local area. Consider the vacancy factors in the property and then negotiate a lease that is realistic for long term occupancy.
- It is very likely that a prospective tenant is going to compare your vacant tenancy to others in competing properties. Understand just where these competing properties are and what type of challenges they have with vacancies today. In an ideal world it would be great to understand what the true market rentals are in those other properties.
Leasing a retail property is a specialist process. You can do very well as a specialist leasing agent with shopping centres and CBD Retail leasing. Grow your knowledge and get to know the tenants in the market and in other shopping centres.