By Taylor Williams For the past several years, including during the height of the pandemic, the Boston retail market has performed well, if unspectacularly. Defined and driven by stable fundamentals in terms of job growth and tenant demand, the state capital’s retail sector has proven itself a reliable environment in which to expand store counts and park long-term money. But few, if any commercial markets and asset classes are wholly immune to the effects of sluggish and disruptive macroeconomic activity. Through no fault of its own, the Boston retail market is seeing its paces of growth slow across the key verticals that are development, leasing and investment sales. That said, seasoned players in this space know better than to panic. Boston remains a dynamic market, despite data from the U.S. Census Bureau showing that the city’s total population shrunk by about 25,000 people, or 3.7 percent, between April 2020 and April 2022. In addition, even in an inflationary economy, Boston consumers tend to retain healthy disposable income levels. A burgeoning life sciences sector that is bringing thousands of well-paying jobs to the city and a steady flow of students and young professionals across its 25-plus colleges and universities lie at …
