Fulfilling its role as an information source for the Downtown business community and those who wish to join it, the Downtown Long Beach Alliance (DLBA) will present its Downtown Long Beach Q3 Retail Snapshot Report later this month. Since 2017, DLBA has created quarterly reports highlighting different aspects of the Downtown real estate market.
The upcoming report focuses on ground-floor retail, which according to (defined by Morris Mills, DLBA’s Research and Public Policy Analyst, Morris Mills, is defined as “any business you can walk into off the street”), and reveals some effects of the ongoing COVID-19 situation on Downtown businesses and real estate. The data analyzed in the report is sourced from the commercial real estate firm CoStar.
“Congruous to many other downtowns, the retail market in Downtown Long Beach was impacted by COVID-19 and resulting public health orders that limited operations for many ground floor businesses,” explained Mills. “Gross retail sales through the second quarter of this year were 50% lower when compared to the same time period in 2019.”
Mills also noted that rental rates for storefronts in Downtown Long Beach – as well as nearby areas like San Pedro and Santa Monica – have decreased in recent months, as has the average occupancy rate of retail space.
The October Snapshot Report also includes results of a survey about the Long Beach Open Streets Initiative, the City program that allows businesses with restricted indoor access (due to COVID protocols) to expand their operations outdoors. The Open Streets Initiative, approved by the City in June, was an effort to help alleviate some of the limits placed on businesses to combat the spread of COVID-19. A DLBA survey given to all businesses eligible for Open Streets revealed that 84% of those who participated in the program would like to see it continue.
DLBA’s Snapshot Reports are intended to provide the community, local leaders, business owners, and potential Downtown entrepreneurs and investors with detailed information about Downtown’s real estate climate and economy. The upcoming retail-focused report will be available on October 15 at this link: https://downtownlongbeach.org/about-dlba/resources/.