As more jobs are created in the trade industry indicators suggest that area retailers are in a healthy economic environment to get their business up and running, or consider adding additional locations for their existing business. As your Commercial Real Estate Advisor, we suggest business owners to take advantage of these favorable conditions by beginning their search for retail space early. As consumer confidence and spending increases, so do rental rates, meaning that delaying your search for Austin business space could cost you money.
At the end of the first quarter this year there were 24 retail buildings under construction totaling 432,994 square feet, 57.4 percent of which that have already been pre-leased. These are exciting times for the Austin area and you can expect to see quite a bit of retail growth, particularly in the Northwest, Round Rock, East, and Southwest areas. Click here to read the latest Austin Retail Market update.
Similarly, in a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas increased payrolls by 10,300 jobs last month. This, along with 60,000 jobs added in January, 18,400 in February, and 5,100 in March bring the year to date total for jobs created to 93,800. When annualized this puts the state on paced to see a 48% increase from the 189,300 jobs that were created last year. Of these jobs created, the trade, transportation and utilities industries have collectively comprised 20.1 percent of the total job growth.
