Midwest

As most that pay attention to commercial real estate know, the retail real estate market is constantly evolving. That said, with change comes opportunity, and we are both recognizing and capitalizing on that opportunity in the Kansas City market. As has been the case for the last few years, we continue to see a significant amount of “right-sizing” from big box and junior box retailers. Although e-commerce remains a prevalent means of purchasing for consumers, retail closures are not as abundant as many have predicted. Rather, many retailers are tweaking their square footage needs in search of the perfect footprint to optimize in-store sales in conjunction with e-commerce. While e-commerce continues to gain market share, it still accounts for less than 10 percent of retail sales nationwide, as of last year. The need for brick-and-mortar stores remains imperative to the success of most retailers. In the Kansas City metro area, retail vacancy rates remain low at 5.6 percent as of the second quarter. While that is a slight increase over 5.5 percent in the first quarter, it is a significant improvement over last year’s second-quarter figure of 6.3 percent. A few major 2018 transactions contributing to the positive net absorption …