ABQ named one of ten retail metro areas to watch

Albuquerque was named one of 10 retail metro areas to watch in Sperry Van Ness' just-released retail edition of its "2007 Top 10 Markets to Watch." U.S. cities like New York, Miami and Los Angeles did not meet key growth criteria to make the list this year. Cities in the Mid-Atlantic and Southwest regions had a strong showing. Other Southwest cities that made the list are Las Vegas (Nev.), Phoenix, Tucson, Dallas/Fort Worth and Houston.
The annual report by the Irvine, Calif.-based commercial real estate firm focuses on future trends rather than current data to forcast commercial real estate growth.
"We have a weekly sales meeting by conference call with brokers coast-to-coast, so everybody gets a pretty good idea of what's going on around the country," says Larry Ilfeld, a senior broker with one of Sperry Van Ness' four Albuquerque/Rio Rancho area offices.
Half of all new jobs in New Mexico will be based in Albuquerque in 2007, says the report, accounting for a 2.2 percent employment growth in the city, which should be attractive to anchor type tenants (typically the larger retailers operating in most shopping centers, like grocery or drug stores, department or discount shops).
The report foresees 1.3 percent retail construction growth through 2007, a continued vacancy rate of less than 10 percent and, because of the demand for space, a 2 percent increase in rents.
"If you look at what had been the amount of retail here two or three years ago compared to the population and job growth, the area didn't have enough retail to support the population," says Ilfeld. "But with the new retail that's been shooting up, when the developers do those big deals, they obviously do the market research."
Ilfeld says that while some markets around the country have become sluggish, "Albuquerque is not one of those. I think it has the underpinnings for continued growth."