Chicago retail leasing down...what does it mean?

Eddie Baeb has a good story in this week's Crain's about demand for retail leasing going down by 22%, led by discount grocers and discount stores. As the story said:

“Stores like Target, Wal-Mart and Home Depot really drive growth,” says Jeff Kuchman, a principal with Oakbrook Terrace-based Mid-America. “When they pull back even marginally you feel that in a big way.”
As the story says, though, there are some good "buts." Developers are listening and building less. If you are in the city, you are probably way worse off than in Kendall or McHenry (and probably Kankakee, too) counties. And some sectors are still growing like gangbusters, such as entertainment and fast food. (And that's even down here: we have a Culver's and an Arby's under construction about a mile from my house.)

It'll be interesting to see how fast any of this changes when the market turns -- and it is turning.
But that's for my next post.

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