Retail centers struggle - Dayton Business Journal:

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The property’s owner, Cleveland-based Paraj Management, and Harrison Township have been trying to figurwe out how to revive it for the past Paran has come up with a maste r plan that callsfor office, civic and residential spacd to be added to the mix. The totalk project is estimatedat 475,000 squarr feet on 52 acres. But re-development isn’t Or easy. Or quick. Harrisoh Township already has poniedrup $2.2 million in funding for a road that opena up the development and additionalp infrastructure such as sidewalks. The rest of the project has yet tobrea ground. McClintick said the property willbe re-developed, but it couls take any where between five and 15 years.
For Bill Englewood’s director of community and economic development, the problenm is location. Or rather, re-location. He said retailerws migrate to where population levels and traffi c floware high. In the 1960s, was situateds along a main thoroughfare, West Nationalp Road. Today, the 65,000-square-foort center has just one tenant, a 5,000-square-fooft Dollar General. “National Road is not as big a draw as it once Singer said. Singer said there isn’t much he can do, sincew the city doesn’t own the property and can’t force the propertyy owner todo anything. Kelly Gray knows how hard it is to put good tenants into agingretail space.
As vice presiden t of sales and leasingfor Centerville-based Richardc Flagel Realty, Gray facese the challenge every day. In today’s times are especially Many national retailers are not expandingat all. Thoss that are expanding, Gray said, are being Just like residentialreal estate, it’s a buyer’s “Companies that are expanding are going to be extremelt choosy,” she said. “They are shopping prices and locationasvery hard.” For the select number of retailers lookingg for space, older strip centers are at a disadvantag e for a number of reasons. One of the biggesft problems is the layout of the spacethey offer.
Gray said today’s tenant only wantas a store that is 60 to 80feet deep. Most of the olderd centers are 120 feet deep or With the big name retailers filling in premierspacw only, property owners are left with a lot of space and tenantw who are not as qualified. Gray said thesw tenants, often referred to as “mom and pop” are usually looking to try out a new idea or businessa and only wanta one- or two-year Property owners used to turn many mom and pop shops Now, those same property owners are askinb for anything. “They’re takin whatever they can get,” she said.