The Sonoma County retail shopping centers market ended 2007 in a healthy state with a vacancy rate of 2.6%, equal to the vacancy rate at the end of 2006. The annual average asking rental rate for all retail centers was $29.57 per square foot (NNN) through year-end 2007.
The total gross leasable area (GLA) of all retail centers in Sonoma County, excluding malls, is approximately 5.9 million square feet in 43 total retail centers. The bulk of the retail center inventory lies within the power center category, accounting for about 37% of the total inventory, or 2.2 million square feet of the total GLA.
The next highest contributor is community centers, followed by neighborhood centers with 2.1 million square feet and 1.6 million square feet, respectively. Total availability amounted to just 155,636 square feet, comprised mostly of shop spaces, with a total of 126,386 square feet currently on the market.
The Sonoma County retail centers market is dividend into three submarkets: Southern, Central and Northern. The GLA square footage in these three submarkets is 1.3 million square feet (Southern), 3.8 million square feet (Central) and 799,030 square feet (Northern).
Vacancy rates differed in the three submarkets. The Southern area recorded the lowest vacancy at 1.8%, followed by the Northern at 2.4% and the Central at 3.0%.
Average asking rental rates varied as well. Southern Sonoma reported the highest annual average asking rate at $36.26 per square foot (NNN). Next in line was Northern at $28.97, followed by Central at $27.83. The more economical asking rate in Central Sonoma County was due, in part, to the diversity of property type in this submarket. Average asking rates for the entire county ranged from a low of $14.40 to as much a high of $42.
