Brick & Mortar Hospitality Barber LLC leased 3,569 square feet of retail space in Barber Station Building located at 3035 E. Barber Valley Drive in Boise. JP Green of TOK Commercial facilitated the transaction.

Jessica Penny renewed their 1,505 square feet of retail space in Cole Village Shopping Center located at 3317-3485 N. Cole Road in Boise. Holly Chetwood and JP Green of TOK Commercial facilitated this transaction.

Vacancy in the Retail market continues to tighten as demand from retailers remains high and new construction is repressed by high construction costs.

New construction may be hindered by high construction costs, however some projects are able to successfully move forward with spec buildings and build-to-suit options. Many of these are occurring in grocery-anchored centers such as the pads in front of Costco and Winco on Chinden Blvd in North Meridian. New buildings on these pad sites are a mix of unanchored strip centers and bank or quick service restaurant sites.

The Retail market experienced a boost in activity during the second quarter, with both gross and net absorption rising dramatically versus Q1 and overall transaction volume up over 60 percent (by number of deals).  As a result of this strong market activity, overall vacancy has declined from 8.6 percent to 7.2 percent. 

2020 began with a strong start for the Retail market, posting 166,000 square feet of positive net absorption in the first 90 days. However, along with the pandemic came many business closures and the subsequent two quarters posted negative net absorption. However, a rebound began in Q4, where the market saw over 400,000 square feet of gross absorption, the strongest quarterly activity since 2013. As a result, net absorption finished the year at 191,000 square feet. The number of transactions completed in Q4 was also up 28 percent from its lowest point in Q2.