Regions Southwest | Phoenix
New Residents = New Retail
March 1, 2008
By: Tonie Auer, Contributing Correspondent

Even in an uncertain economic climate and a housing crisis, the Phoenix residential market is making new retail construction possible, noted Don Sheckell, managing principal for De Rito Partners Inc. Analysts predict 25,000 to 30,000 new housing starts in the market during 2008, about half the amount in 2004. But that is still a “huge amount of growth,” said David Glimcher, president & CEO of Glimcher Ventures Southwest L.L.C., noting that Phoenix is still seeing greeting 100,000 new residents a year.

    In fact, Maricopa County, which encompasses the Phoenix area, is the fastest growing county in the United States, Sheckell reported. Job growth in Phoenix, however, while above the national average is expected to slow this year. Projections have area employers adding 25,100 jobs in 2008, down 1.3 percent from 28,200 positions in 2007, according to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services Inc.'s 2008 annual report for Phoenix.

For more on the Phoenix retail market, see the March 16 print edition of CPN.




 
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