Dive Summary:

• Chicago retail is benefitting from upward economic trends including a more stable economy and lower unemployment rates among U.S. consumers.
• Retail leasing began to pick up throughout 2012 and has continued throughout the city into 2013, as vacancy rates currently hover near 6%, according to a report.
• The retail market is bifurcated in that retail in the urban areas is doing well,” stated Greg Schott, managing principal at L3 Capital. “I think some of the discounters continue to do well – tenants like Target, Walmart and Nordstrom Rack.”

From the article:

“For the past couple of years, value-based retail and high-end retail was the only thing that was showing any signs of activity,” he said. “Now we’re seeing everything in the middle come back, such as apparel retailers.” The anticipated influx of high-income households into the city is also luring more apparel and specialty retailers to the area, a trend likely to gain momentum and help offset the uptick in completions, according to Marcus & Millichap.