Rents Begin to Bounce Back for Retail Sector in Upstate South Carolina as Vacancy Ticks Up, NAI Earle Furman Finds

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Asking rents for the retail market in Upstate South Carolina are beginning to bounce back from the COVID-19 hit the sector took in the first quarter, NAI Earle Furman research has found. The Greenville-based brokerage firm reports that second-quarter rents were up nearly 10 cents to just shy of $10.90 across the region and $1.10 higher in the Greenville central business district (CBD) and West End. For the region, asking rates were around $11 per square foot at year-end 2019, showing the market still has some recovering to do, though. Additionally, the vacancy rate has climbed to nearly 5 percent in the second quarter, up from 4.5 percent the previous quarter and just over 4 percent at the end of 2019. Vacancy in the Greenville CBD was relatively flat, coming in at 5.3 percent in the second quarter, compared with 5 percent in the first quarter. Absorption fell slightly in Upstate, too, from 8,000 square feet to 1,000 square feet of positive absorption.