Population growth and an evolving Tampa Bay retail market translated into more foot traffic and tenant activity during the quarter.
Key Takeaways
- Tenants in 2nd generation space leased 1.4M sq. ft. during the year, pushing the vacancy rate to the pre-pandemic rate of 5.2%, slightly higher than the overall national vacancy rate of 4.3%.
- Quick Service Restaurants (QSR) had the highest number of restaurant closings due to the pandemic, but quickly backfilled those spots. Since 2021 QSR’s accounted for 77% of restaurant store openings in the Tampa Bay region (including Polk County).
- Retail occupancy remained high within five of the six submarkets tracked in the Tampa MSA, all posting occupancy at or above 90% during the quarter.
