Quote:
Originally Posted by xzmattzx
Why not just let the market determine how much ground floor retail there is? Is that so hard to figure out? If someone wants to build a highrise condo with no retail, go ahead. If enough developers pass on it, then there won't be enough ground floor retail space, and demand will increase enough that there will be an incentive for future developers to incorporate it into their building.
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While I agree that there is far too much unsuitable retail space being built, not sure this is the answer either. Even in areas with more than sufficient foot traffic condo developers may often wish to forgo retail that would be profitable as it simply adds extra complications to the ownership model. Also there areas which may have sufficient demand in the future but won't for some time. Once the building is passed over to the condo corporation though the original developer doesn't really care (not a slight, why would they?).
By the same token simply requiring retail space in every building leads to unsuitable spaces that can end up vacant. I think the answer is a mix of oply requiring retail spaces fronting main / designated retail streets / areas and ensuring they meet a minimum specification (frontage, clear height, etc.). In other areas you can leave it up to the developer.
I'm pretty much talking about condo development only - the same is not necessarily true for managed large scale rental apartment or office buildings owned by a REIT or investment group. Retail can become a lot more desirable then.