Saskatoon’s retail sector is becoming slightly overbuilt, according to Barry Stuart, managing partner and senior sales associate at ICR Commercial Real Estate.
According to ICR, the city’s average retail vacancy rate had edged up to 4.6 per cent as of the third quarter of last year, but a lot of new space is coming.
“We have close to 100,000 square feet of new retail development currently under construction,” Stuart noted.
The inventory in Hampton Village recently increased by 160,325 square feet with the tenant mix including Tim Hortons, the Canadian Brewhouse and Dairy Queen.
The city’s second Keg restaurant opened in Brighton Market, which comprises a total of 235,000 square feet.
Other bright spots include up-trending 20th Street, which has one of the lowest vacancy rates in the city at 2.2 per cent; and Stonebridge with only a 1.9 per cent vacancy.
Retail vacancies spike to 7 per cent or higher along 8th Street and 22nd Street, however, and are above 5.5 per cent downtown, ICR reported.
