Different Types Of Retail Properties You Need To Know

If you are planning on investing in a commercial retail property for sale, you should know your options. There is a wide range of retail properties to choose from and each type has its advantages and disadvantages. Here are some of the most common types of retail properties you need to know.

Regional malls

These types of retail properties can come in numerous sizes and shapes and are known to have two or more department stores as tenants are surrounded by a lot of nationally branded tenants. A lot of regional malls are surrounded by pad sites. Pad sites are usually occupied by fast food, restaurants and other popular tenants.

Big box retailers

These are also common types of retail properties. They are occupied by one large store. Cosco and Walmart are some of the popular examples of bog box retailers. These large buildings are typically occupied by one retailer.

Power centers

Think of real estate properties like Sports Authority, Target or PetsMart when you think about power centers. Power centers have a larger quantity of national brand tenants. They sometimes consist of large national brand tenants. They are super-sized strip malls that are surrounded by different pad sites that are typically occupied by fast food, restaurants, banks and other known tenants.

Free-standing retail sites

These types of commercial retail properties are similar to big box retailers. However, they are smaller and cheaper to afford from a commercial real estate platform. Tenants in these properties could be anything from furniture stores, electronic stores, bowling alleys or restaurants.

Strip malls

These are anchored by a grocery store. They bring a lot of foot traffic and other tenants in these malls may include boutiques, mom & pop stores and smaller stores. You can also find national brand stores in strip malls. Some strip malls don’t have an anchor tenant. The strips are likely occupied with professional services such as clinics, insurance agencies and real estate agencies.

Office and industrial conversions

This is what it sounds like – it is when the commercial property is turned into a retail property. It usually deals with urban renewal by working with city officials and developers.

Community commercial retail

This type of retail property is also referred to as urban street retail property or mixed-use property. These types of retail properties are often found on the ground floor or first floor of a multi-family property. They can also be found in an office building and they are usually located in big cities.

Lifestyle centers

This type of retail property started becoming popular in the 1990s. Lifestyle centers are upscale malls without roofs. They may not have a department store as the anchor. Lifestyle centers range between about 150k square feet and 500k square feet.

Factory outlets

If you are planning to invest in a commercial retail property for sale, you can consider factory outlets. They are known to be run by nationally-known brands, ranging from luxury to midpriced. They have limited food options and they run between 50k square feet and 400k square feet.