By Noelle Edwards
nedwards@salisburypost.com
Circuit City, Goody’s, Rex Audio and Video Appliances and Winn-Dixie all used to be in Rowan County.
Now they’re gone, replaced by a trail of empty mega-store retail space.
And in this economy, leasing any space ó much less spaces bigger than 10,000 square feet ó is a challenge.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean Rowan customers will have to wait until the economy bounces back to shop in those spaces again.
Representatives of the agencies handling the empty buildings said retail companies are at least tentatively interested in filling up the spaces left as each of the former tenants closed up shop.
And a Kannapolis property on Cloverleaf Parkway that sits empty after Target built a Super Target is under contract, according to the Web site of Currier Properties, the company handling the spot.
The space is 96,000 square feet, and Currier Properties’ Web site lists the price at $2.8 million.
Diana Teitsma, director of the Charlotte office of Divaris Real Estate, said the building on U.S. 70 that used to be Rex has been empty at least a year and a half. She said mall vacancies make leasing the Rex building more difficult. Fewer mall stores mean less traffic to the area.
Still, there’s an offer on the table now, she said.
It’s the first serious offer Divaris has seen for the 10,064-square-foot building. The only previous offer was too low to consider.
Normally, a property like the U.S. 70 building would lease for about $10 a square foot ó $100,640. Such a building would cost $975,000 to buy.
In this case, she said, a price isn’t nailed down.
Teitsma said leasing or selling a large retail space can take years even in a good economic climate.
“It’s finding the right fit,” she said.
In this case, negotiations are only in the beginning stages. Teitsma said the company that has expressed interest is a national company but declined to say which one.
The mall space that used to house Goody’s also is getting some attention.
Darrell Palasciano, retail leasing specialist at The Shopping Center Group, which is leasing open mall spaces, said several national companies have shown interest in the 25,200-square-foot space.
Such a space would be $18,000 to $20,000 a month to rent, he said, though that price could change based on the size of the company that wants to lease and the extent of the renovations it wants done.
Palasciano said national retailers often take six months to a year to get set up once they’ve started the process to lease a property.
Part of that, he said, is because many companies want to renovate extensively to make the store look like others in the chain.
He also said it’s possible a smaller store would want only half the space. The space could be divided in two and leased as two pieces.
“It’s never as simple as … ‘Here’s the keys; move in,’ ” said Palasciano.
John Leatherman has seen his property, what used to be Winn-Dixie, sit empty for four years.
He had a few bites, he said, but none he thought would be in his or the community’s best interests.
But recently High Rock Community Church signed a lease on the building with an option to buy later on. The space, on Jake Alexander Boulevard, will be the church’s fourth campus.
Stacy Slater, senior vice president of investments at Centro Properties Group, the company leasing the building that used to be Circuit City, said large spaces are harder to lease in a tough economy because of the “supply and demand” factor.
Because of the economy, she wouldn’t say how long the space in Innes Street Market might take to lease.Frankie Adkins, a specialty leasing agent at Salisbury Mall, said she thinks people have less money to spend on things they don’t need, so sales at stores that sell luxuries take a hit.
Steven Keels, Salisbury Mall manager, said in an e-mail the “most important factor on mall stores is the overall health of the economy.”
When people spend less, stores have less income, which makes it harder for them to be viable in making rent and paying other expenses. A slow market makes companies hesitant to expand to new spots.
Adkins said, “You’re going, ‘I really don’t need… . People are looking for ways to put gas in their cars.”
Rowan County isn’t unique. The U.S. Census Bureau announced that July retail and restaurant sales were down 8.3 percent from a year earlier. That basically translates to $31 billion less that Americans spent in July of this year versus July 2008.
But Teitsma said she thinks the economy has bottomed out and is on the upswing, based on increased interest in leasing she’s seen in the past few weeks.
“I think it’s a trend up,” she said. “That remains to be seen. Brokers have to be optimistic.”