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Greater Vancouver Retail Report Spring/Summer 2022

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Colliers Greater Vancouver Retail Report 2022

As confidence in returning to in-person activities grew through late 2021 and accelerated into 2022, so did traffic to retail stores and the demand for retailers to reopen or open new ones. As a result, both urban and suburban retail market locations are experiencing extreme lows in vacancy.

  • The average Urban Retail vacancy rate is estimated at 2.5%. A higher rate of vacancies can be found in the Central Business District (CBD), due to slow and inconsistent return to office policies and an absence of business conferences, although this is changing at a rapid pace. Gastown and Chinatown were also affected as a result of limited foot traffic and lack of tourism.
  • The average Suburban Retail vacancy rate is 2.3%. Tenants looking to locate in suburban areas are having challenges finding options. As a result, the focus of demand is shifting to projects yet to be constructed.
  • Most new retail development, both in the urban and suburban markets, is taking the form of mixed-use projects. Developers in the Greater Vancouver market continue to need to be creative in order to make sense of the land prices.
 

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Greater Vancouver Retail Report Spring/Summer 2022

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Madeleine Nicholls

Senior Managing Director, Brokerage | Vancouver

Vancouver

Madeleine Nicholls is the Senior Managing Director, Vancouver Brokerage and National Retail Brokerage Lead for Canada. She joined the organization in March 2020, starting her Colliers Leadership career in Toronto before relocating to Vancouver.

With over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate, Madeleine has established herself in the industry as an expert and leader. Prior to Colliers, she worked with major landlords across Canada to realize their business goals and properties’ value. She has worked for owners and developers on acquisitions and dispositions, has successfully leased up a variety of mixed-use, retail  and office projects. She also has experience on the brokerage side of the business having represented national tenant expansions across Canada, and has also worked on urban and suburban retail. Madeleine has expertise at all levels of new business development from strategic planning and acquisitions to prospecting, pitching, negotiating offers and leases, and build out of space.  She has exceptional tenant relationship management and knowledge in the redevelopment of properties to maximize value.

Madeleine is a champion and ally of Colliers’ Diversity & Inclusion program, volunteering her time as the Co-Chair for The Colliers’ Women's Network. Her allyship extends further than Colliers, as she actively volunteers her time to speak to student groups, industry events and the media.

Madeleine has dual Canadian-British citizenship, has lived on 3 continents and travelled to 33 countries.

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Susan Thompson

Associate Director, Research

Vancouver

Susan is a long-standing analyst and commentator on the commercial real estate market.  Her continuing work with local, national, and international media as a commentator for the commercial real estate sector has given her recognition within the industry as one of the preeminent sources of information and knowledge for leasing and transaction analysis and market trends.

Susan was previously with Avison Young working as their Research and Insight Manager over the course of nine years  (a boomerang employee: with them for four years, away for five years, then back for five years). She was responsible for dozens of reports on the Calgary commercial real estate market, covering office, retail and industrial leasing as well as business condominium properties and commercial property sales. More recently she focused on data-driven storytelling through reports, media work, and client engagement utilizing techology and analytics to help make better-informed decisions. 

In between periods with Avison Young, she spent over five years with Calgary Economic Development; first as their Business Development Manager specializing in Real Estate, helping companies bringing their business to Calgary navigate the local commercial real estate market, then as their overall Research Manager providing economic analysis and commentary on the Calgary market.

In prior years, after starting her career in assessment, Susan spent over seven years with RealNet Canada, the leading provider of third-party commercial real estate sales information. Working her way up from Research Analyst to Manager for the Calgary office, Susan analyzed thousands of commercial real estate transactions and is extremely knowledgeable about the commercial real estate market in Calgary. 

Susan has a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with a major in Management Science from the University of Alberta. Well recognized in the industry, Susan’s name is often seen in the media as she provides commentary and insight on current commercial real estate topics. Susan's breadth of knowledge across the commercial real estate market and in data analytics is an asset across the industry.

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