Surveys find strong sales, occupancy in town centers

New Urban News Article with table, image, 4/1/03

Research shows mixed-use main streets often out perform conventional properties in their local markets.

The strength of new urban town centers goes well beyond competitive retail sales — it also includes unexpectedly high demand for live/work housing and an increasing number of employers who want to locate in more urban settings.

Many town centers are already outstripping conventional suburban real estate projects, according to real estate writer Charles Lockwood, who surveyed eight town centers — most new urban, a few hybrids — and reported in Urban Land that all produced higher revenues than single-use shopping centers in their respective regions.

A similar conclusion was reached by Charles Bohl in his soon-to- be-published report, “The Return of the Town Center,” in the Wharton Real Estate Review. Bohl, who shared his findings with New Urban News, says that among the mix of uses in town centers, “the most consistent positive performance” was that of the residential component. “Demand for town center housing has been very strong in a wide variety of markets throughout the US and rental rates, sales and resales of properties have exceeded expectations.”