on the MOVE
market snapshot CENTRAL FLORIDA By TraceyVelt
RETAIL MARKET THRIVES DESPITE HOUSING SLUMP
The assumption that retail is following
rooftops to a slowdown would be incorrect in Central Florida, with tourism gains
offsetting any effects from residential market troubles, according to local brokers.
“Disney recently reported they had
their best year ever, so we have a record
number of tourists,”
says John M. Crossman, president of
Crossman & Co. in Orlando, who is also president of the Central
Florida Commercial
Association of Realtors.
“Since tourists spend
about five times more
than a resident of Cen-
tral Florida, many re- “Retail has not
tail sectors are doing been hit as hard
very well.” by the housing
Justin M. Greider, market because it
senior financial analyst for Staubach Capital doesn’t have the
Markets in Orlando, overbuilding that
agrees that Central other areas may
Florida’s retail market have.”
has remained remarkably strong. “It’s one of
the hottest markets in
Florida,” he says, “and
that’s because of the population growth in
Orlando. Retail has not been hit as hard
by the housing market because it doesn’t
have the overbuilding that other areas
may have.”
Weingarten Realty Investors, which already owns 14 shopping centers in Central Florida, backs those assertions. The
Houston-based REIT recently announced
that JCPenney will anchor its new
366,000-sf Clermont Landing development. Another center, Phillips Crossing in
southwest Orlando, will be anchored by
Whole Foods and is scheduled to open
this summer.
Here’s a rundown of hot niche markets
in Central Florida:
• Millenia area. “With the new Ikea recently opening and the success of the Mall
at Millenia, this market is the place to be,”
says Greider.
• Downtown Orlando. “The
market will explode when all
those condos open up,” says
Greider. “It will be a couple of
years before that happens, but
there will be residential growth
that will fuel a lot of retail.
Thornton Park has been a market to watch over the past several years.”
• Lake Nona, which Crossman believes will become a
prominent retail market in
Central Florida. “The potential
is for several million sf of retail
space and numerous other
smaller-scale projects. It will
be known as the airport submarket,” he says.
Greider estimates the Lake
Nona market will grow over the
next three to five years: “It virtually doesn’t exist right now—
you’ve got two shopping centers—but if
you look at the residential growth, I think
developers will want to emulate what’s
been done at the Millenia drive area.”
In addition, the International Drive
market is starting to recognize that the
fundamentals that hurt them when the
Millenia market started booming—no
parking, inward facing stores perpendicular to the road—will need to be corrected.
“Orlando is a stronger-than-average
market, and it’s booming from an investment perspective, Greider says.
Emily Zinaich of Morrison Commercial Real
Estate is the 2008 president of the Orlando
chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women.
Other officers for the year include Patricia
Werner of Welbro Building Corp., president-elect; Elaine Devlin of Am Trust Bank, treasurer; and Jane Smalley of Lake Nona
Property Holdings LLC, secretary.
The new president, CEO and managing
partner of Orlando-based law firm
Lowndes Drosdick Doster Kantor &
Reed is William T. Dymond Jr. Dymond
is a longtime
partner of the
firm, having
joined after
graduating from
the University
of North Carolina School of
Law in 1985. His
legal practice is
concentrated in
Dymond business and
commercial
real estate with a focus on lodging and
resort transactions.
JUSTIN M. GREIDER
Staubach Capital Markets
Michael Collard Properties in Winter
Park has added George M. McBee as
senior VP of development services.
McBee is a retail development and project management veteran who previously worked for New Plan Excel Realty
Trust Inc. and Boyd Development Corp.
He was most recently COO of Avid Engineering in Palm Harbor.—REFLA
matter of FACT
The average number of new jobs to be
created annually in Central Florida, resulting in 200,000 jobs by 2013, according
to Workforce Central Florida.
