6:14 PM EDT on Wednesday, March 25, 2009
NewsChannel 36 | Tony Burbeck
Tough times for Charlotte-area retail could be a silver lining if you want to open a new store. There’s a big “if” involved here — it’s if you are willing to take the risk and can afford to ride it out…”The pipeline of proposed projects is increasing dramatically,” said Andrew Jenkins, managing partner with Karnes Research. Jenkins says 11 million square-feet of retail is waiting to be built when the economy turns around. He says recently closed big box stores will be cheap, but in general “new” space raises rents. ”Because new space is just new and it’s forcing owners to redevelop older spaces,” Jenkins said. He thinks this will be the retail story of 2009: “I think we’ll probably look back and say, ‘Hey, we weathered that storm. We’re poised for the next three, four years. Let’s pick and choose the best projects to do.’”
Posted by karnes 
