Little Vacancy For Norman Merchants

Ask the average consumer what they perceive as being the one submarket in the Oklahoma City area having the lowest amount of vacant shopping center space, their answer would most likely be Edmond or far north Oklahoma City. Surprisingly, both answer are incorrect. While those areas do boast some of the highest per capita incomes, the submarket with lowest retail vacancy rate is Norman.

During the fourth quarter, Norman saw its retail vacancy fall to just over 2 percent. Out of a total shopping center inventory of 2.3 million square feet, there was less than 49,000 square feet of vacant space. What makes these numbers even more remarkable is the fact that they are not an anomaly. Over the past year and a half, Norman’s retail vacancy has consistently remained below 5 percent each quarter.

Another interesting footnote to consider: the bulk of the city’s shopping center space lies in older shopping c

enters, most of which were constructed in the 1970’s and early ‘80s. Norman has not seen the level of new construction that Edmond and north Oklahoma City has experienced, but has managed to retain tenants in older shopping centers, some of which have undergone extensive renovations, such as the recent retrofit to the Campus Corner shopping district.

One of the primary reasons Norman has not seen the level of construction is simply because there is little room in the city for new retail development. For the most part, Norman is a land-locked community due to such natural geographic boundaries as the Canadian River and Lake Thunderbird, as well as the large amount of land controlled by the University of Oklahoma and government entities. Those limits to construction have forces retail tenants to seek space in existing facilities, creating such a low vacancy.

There is one significant retail project on the drawing board. OU intends to develop 550 acres east of Interstate 35, north of Robinson Avenue, south of Tecumseh Road and west of Max Westheimer Airport. The University had attempted to sell the land, but when that failed, its leaders decided to develop the property into a large retail power center. Plans are still in formation on the project, which could see the light of day this year.

Without question, the driving force behind Norman’s retail stability is the strength of its economy, which is fueled by OU’s growth. The university’s emerging research park is attracting new companies to the city, while completion of OU’s 250,00-square-foot Weather Center is expected to lure more weather-focused corporations to the city over the next few years.

While football fans may still be suffering from the team’s recent loss in the Orange Bowl, the national attention focused on Norman as a result of the Sooner’s consistent success over the past several years has also proven a factor in luring students, visitors, residents and retailers to the suburb.