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Retail consultant: Germantown has low overall vacancy; tools and targeted incentives can help fill mid-box spaces
Summary
Consultant Russ Sagmon of Colliers told the Germantown Economic Development Commission that the village’s retail inventory (about 1.7 million sq ft) shows roughly 4.4% vacancy and that data tools such as CoStar and Placer.ai, plus targeted façade grants and owner outreach, can improve re-tenanting of mid‑box properties.
Russ Sagmon, a partner in Colliers’ retail group, told the Germantown Economic Development Commission on Feb. 10 that the village’s retail stock totals roughly 1,700,000 square feet and that vacancy is low by regional standards. “Of the 1,700,000 square feet, there’s about 4.4% vacant,” Sagmon said, adding that about 6% of space is currently listed on the market, including sublease offerings.
Sagmon said his firm uses industry data and foot-traffic analytics to advise municipalities and retailers. “We use a thing called Placer AI, which is cell phone tracking data,” he said, explaining the tool’s ability to show visit counts, dwell time and trade-area origins for specific stores such as Pick ’n Save or Starbucks. He also cited CoStar for inventory tracking.
Why vacancy exists in some mid-box centers, Sagmon said, is often driven by real-estate fundamentals rather than a single local failing: large-format stores concentrate square footage in nodes along County Line, some properties are not being actively marketed or have access/topography constraints, and landlords sometimes prefer leaving space vacant instead of funding costly tenant build-outs. He discussed how tenant improvement costs, higher interest rates and landlord underwriting can deter new tenants.
Sagmon offered practical steps for local leaders to promote re-tenanting: make community loan and façade programs visible to brokers and prospective tenants; reach out to out‑of‑state owners to learn if modest incentives or TID/facade funds would unlock redevelopment; and consider business improvement districts or street‑level events to market spaces. “It may help as a ‘hey we have these offers available,’” he said about loan and façade programs.
Commissioners asked technical questions about the Placer.ai metrics (what the heat-map colors mean and the visits thresholds used) and about workforce constraints for restaurants in higher‑income suburbs. Sagmon said thresholds are adjustable by use case (for grocery he typically looks for 12+ visits per year; for regional mid‑box nodes he used a lower threshold during the commission’s example).
The commission thanked Sagmon and agreed to follow up; Sagmon offered to provide the presentation materials for staff to distribute.
The presentation concluded without formal action; the commission moved on to other agenda items and said it will consider follow-up steps in future meetings.
