Retailers are ready to expand. Finding space that can actually take them is the hard part, and there’s even less of it than the already-tight vacancy rates suggest.
In the November 2026 edition of our White Paper Series, X Team Retail Advisors looks past the headline vacancy rate to the number that actually governs leasing: usable vacancy. Once obsolete boxes, compromised layouts and properties that can’t accommodate demand are stripped out, high-performing markets are left with a much shorter list of realistic options. The paper also covers why new construction remains selective, why big boxes are getting scarce, and why growth is coming out of existing real estate.
