Currently, there are four major retail centers expanding or under development along the Wasatch Front. In fact, the area's top shopping center — Fashion Place mall in Murray — is in the midst of a nearly 100,000-square-foot expansion that will include 17 new stores and restaurants upon completion.
Along with the estimated $1 billion City Creek mixed-use project in downtown Salt Lake City, the Fashion Place expansion is among the largest retail developments in the area. Other major projects include Station Park along I-15 in Farmington and the 220,000-square-foot Scheel's project in Sandy.
Even with all the development under way, recent data compiled by Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate shows mid-year 2011 lease rates for retail space have increased in some segments while area vacancy rates have jumped almost 2 percent over 2010.
While vacancies have risen, the amount landlords are charging for retail space had declined from 2008 to 2010 with rates falling from a five-year high of $16.86 per square foot in ′08 to $14.21 per square foot in ′10. This year, rates have climbed a bit to $14.52 per square foot, bolstered by a sharp rise in the neighborhood retail sector. Deseret News
