Broward retail market will fall further

Broward County will experience higher vacancy rates and lower rent prices in 2010, according to a new report by Marcus & Millichap. The report forecasts that Broward will get around 800,000 square feet of new construction in the retail market, including the 600,000-square-foot Village at Gulfstream Park. This would represent a 300,000-square-foot increase over construction delivery in 2009. The report also predicts that asking rents will fall to $17.91 per square foot, with vacancy rising to 13.2 percent. Because many neighborhood commercial districts focus on grocey stores, their performance will suffer due to unemployment and the housing market. TRD