Retail leasing is a special part of the property industry. With the right knowledge and skills it can offer you as an agent, real opportunity in listings and commissions. Even in the tougher times when retail trade is under some pressure, good commissions are still to be had by retail leasing specialists.
The fact of the matter is that retail leasing is so specialised that only some agents have the knowledge or the focus to do it well. Shopping centres do not disappear when retail shopping is under pressure; they just change the tenant mix and market their tenant offering more specifically and aggressively.
So what can you do to lift your focus and become a good retail leasing expert? Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Research all of the shopping centres in your region. Assess each property with due regard for age, customer type, tenant mix, market rental, and vacancy factors. You will soon see some standards and trends that apply to a successful retail property.
- Local business owners will be a very good source of opportunity and leads. Talk to all the retail tenants in other properties to see what they are doing by way of opportunity and how they view the current retail trading conditions. Some of those business owners will be looking to relocate or expand premises.
- Review the standards that apply to the tenant mix in all the local shopping centres. You will soon see the successful tenants in the mix standing out for unique offering and marketing. It is those tenants that will thrive in most economic cycles. Talk to those tenants about current retail trade and what they may be looking for by way of a new business location.
- Get to know the principles of ‘clustering’ as they apply to retail shopping centre tenant mix and strategy. Well designed retail tenant ‘clusters’ are a part of a tenant retention plan and tenant mix strategy in any shopping centre.
- Rent types will change from property type to property type and location to location. Get to know the trends of market rentals that apply to retail properties through your region and compare those rents across different properties. As part of that process, include factors of outgoing and tenant operating costs in retail shopping centres. You will soon see how tenants must trade to be successful.
- Marketing trends in a shopping centre are both at a tenant level and also at a shopping centre level. The retail message has to be consistently spread around the shopping community and region. Look at the marketing efforts that apply to retail tenants and shopping centres. Good marketing will help the profile and trade of any shopping centre.
- Incentives will shift and change for new tenants in retail premises. Any new development project will offer new and high incentives to attract tenants to their premises. Monitor the retail developments coming up in your region.
- Retail shopping centre owners and shopping centre managers will need the assistance of a retail leasing expert from time to time. It is important to know that these people know what a retail property is all about and they will expect the same from the leasing people that help them with any upcoming vacancies. Make sure you know your facts, market, and tenant mix before you talk to these people.
- Franchise groups will move around the retail properties and region. Get to know the retail franchise groups for the lease needs they may have. As part of that process you will need to know their standard terms of occupancy and property requirements.
Retail leasing is a very special part of the property industry. For those of us that want to specialise in retail, the rewards are many.
Commercial Real Estate Online 