The Albuquerque metro is maintaining a steady retail market. Keys to this steadiness include year-over-year positive job growth, consistent population expansion, low unemployment and a measured expansion of retail inventory since 2000. On the other side of the coin are two items of concern: some flatness in retailer sales figures and retailers being impacted by their stores in other marketplaces outside the Albuquerque metro. Albuquerque’s retail sector of 27.28 million square feet (measured from buildings equal to or exceeding 10,000 square feet in size) has posted a vacancy rate of 7.8 percent across all product types, down from 8.1 percent last year. Asking rents for new construction shop space are $20 to $28 per square foot per year NNN. In the Cottonwood Mall and Uptown submarkets, top spaces are in the $30 to $45 per square foot range. Asking rents for new mid-size and large space range from $16 to $20 per square foot per year and $12 to $16 per square foot per year, respectively. Active submarkets within the Albuquerque metro area are Uptown, Far Northeast Heights and the South Valley. In Uptown in the past 2 years, Coronado Mall and ABQ Uptown have welcomed the leading tenants in …