As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the economy and how businesses operate, Colliers Real Estate Management Services (REMS) remains committed to keeping our clients, tenants, and the broader market informed. In June we explored retail, office and industrial recovery in the context of regulations, cost increases and adaptation.
Now, we are following up with a series of dedicated reports on retail and office. We surveyed a stratified sample of the tenants in our managed portfolio of 62 million square feet across every major market in Canada, which consisted of 184 office tenants, 122 retail tenants and 85 industrial tenants, totaling 391 tenants.
The first report in the series examines what the road to recovery looks like and what retail tenants can expect from the future.
Key Takeaways:
- Overall, retailers’ operating costs increased by 25% compared to their costs before the pandemic
- 44% of respondents indicated plans to apply for the new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS)
- Retail sales are showing signs of recovery after reopening with August 2020 seeing a 3.5% increase over LY
- 62% of retailers indicate their space needs are roughly the same
- 9% of tenants are planning to permanently close, but likely won’t make any decisions until after the holiday shopping season concludes
