BURLINGTON, MA—KeyPoint Partners, LLC has released The KeyPoint Report for Greater Hartford, Connecticut 2019, Bob Sheehan, Vice President of Research, announced. This comprehensive Report examines supply, occupancy, absorption, and retailer expansion and contraction for virtually every retail property in the region.
According to the Report, retail space inventory in Greater Hartford totals 37.6 million square feet, a modest increase of 166,300 square feet from last year. Vacant retail space in the region climbed to 4.1 million square feet, a gain of 115,600 square feet. This equates to a vacancy rate of 10.8%, a moderate increase from a rate of 10.6% a year ago.
The top towns in terms of retail space are Manchester, West Hartford, and Enfield, all regional hubs serving Greater Hartford. Manchester continues to top all communities with 5.4 million square feet of retail space. Among towns in the study, Enfield had the highest vacancy, and Rocky Hill the lowest. In terms of retail expansion, Planet Fitness added more square footage in the region than any retailer, followed by Target. Peoples United Bank added the highest number of new locations, adding 12 branches through its acquisition of Farmington Bank. In terms of retail categories, General Merchandise and Medical/Dental Services showed the most growth, while Restaurants contracted the most.
“Shopping continues to shift toward online at the expense of brick-and-mortar. Store closings so far in 2019 have already surpassed the total for all of 2018. It’s comforting to know that in Greater Hartford the number of occupied tenants actually experienced a nominal gain this year,” Sheehan says. “However, while there are some bright spots, it will likely be another volatile year.”
The KeyPoint Report is based on KeyPoint Partners’ GRIID, a powerful source of retail market knowledge that maintains detailed information on virtually every retail property in key New England markets. The Greater Hartford, CT Report examines changes in supply, vacancy and absorption, retailer activity, and market composition by store size and retail categories for the year ending August 2019. This Report includes 26 cities and towns representing more than 835 square miles and approximately 809,700 people (23% of the Connecticut population).
GRIID™ contains information on Eastern Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire and Greater Hartford, Connecticut, approximately 44% of all retail space in New England. GRIID™ has information on nearly 264 million square feet of retail space and more than 60,000 retail establishments.
The complete Report can be accessed here or at KeyPointPartners.com. The KeyPoint Reports for Eastern MA/Greater Boston and Southern New Hampshire are also available.
