Marin malls recovering along with economy
By Janis Mara
Reports of the death of malls across America are an exaggeration, and nowhere is this more the case than in Marin County, experts say.
While national media are full of stories about dead and decaying malls, Marin’s four largest shopping malls — Vintage Oaks in Novato, Northgate in San Rafael, and The Village and the Town Center in Corte Madera — are slowly recovering from the recession, according to local brokers, finance directors and mall managers.
Indicators such as gradually increasing sales tax revenue, healthy rents, low vacancy rates and favorable demographics seem to bear this out, though recovery is not complete and the experts acknowledge that the move to discounts and Internet sales could cause it to stall.
Sales tax revenue dropped significantly for three of the county’s four malls in 2009 during the recession, but have been inching up ever since. Also, the vacancy rate for retail in Marin is about 4.6 percent, well below the industry standard of 7 percent, and “I’m guessing the mall market is even lower,” said Brian Eisberg, a senior vice president with Newmark Cornish & Cary Commercial.
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