In the previous two posts, I argued that we have a serious shortfall in the supply of new housing at every price level and that this drives up housing costs. Now I\u2019ll take a look at retail and office space to try to offer some perspective on what\u2019s going on in the market for commercial real estate and what it says about consumer preferences, our economic well-being, and what we can do to adapt to attract and retain employers and their employees in the future.<\/p>\n
Even as many other parts of the country \u2013 and the DC region \u2013 are dealing with a glut of retail space, Montgomery County\u2019s retail supply is, overall, strong and balanced. The main problem is that like everywhere else, too much of our brick-and-mortar retail space is occupied by merchants who sell the kinds of goods that have in the past been associated with department stores, such as apparel, sporting goods, and furniture. Neighborhood goods and services, or what some call “convenience” retail, such as hardware stores, dry cleaners, etc., are in relatively short supply. The shakeout among merchants who sell goods that used to be offered almost entirely at brick-and-mortar stores but are now readily available online, will create continued disruption in local commercial real estate, but the opportunity for neighborhood-serving retail may fill in the gap.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n