All the important fundamentals for San Diego’s retail market have recovered: sales, and the employment and tourist traffic that supports retail, especially downtown. Now retailers want to be in San Diego’s urban core again, Colliers International SVP and Urban Property Group leader Bill Shrader tells us.

Now that the fundamentals are in good shape, Bill says, he expects retail leasing to increase as new developments come on line with space to lease. Also, a lack of developable land is driving developer interest in redeveloping existing properties, to make the space more attractive to retailers. Recently Bill, along with Urban Property Group colleagues David Maxwell, Joe Brady, and Serena Patterson, moved to Colliers from Cushman & Wakefield.

As for the investment market for retail properties, Bill says that heightened investor interest is going to drive the volume of property sales higher, especially among owners not previously considering selling. Moreover, the threat of interest rate increases has lit a fire under investors, making them think hard about taking advantage of today’s low-rate environment and leveraging to acquire urban assets.