The retail vacancy rate in Hartford increased this year while the surrounding suburbs were much better about filling up their empty storefronts, according to a Massachusetts real estate firm.
The report by KeyPoint Partners of Burlington, Mass. showed the vacancy rate of retail square foot in Hartford increased to 14.2 percent in 2015, up from 13.7 percent.
The data comes as Hartford is trying to reinvigorate its downtown by filling up many of the vacant storefronts with retail and restaurants.
Despite the issues in Hartford, the entire Greater Hartford region saw a decrease in the number of empty storefronts – a regional vacancy rate of 10.1 percent vs. 11 percent in 2015 – as the surrounding cities and towns decreased their empty storefronts. The total retail space in 2015 was 37.2 million square feet, which was unchanged from 2014.
The suburbs with the lowest vacancy rate was West Hartford at 3.3 percent, followed by Rock Hill (3.4 percent), Newington (4.5 percent), Farmington (5.4), Plainville (5.6), Enfield (6.6), Avon (7.3), Canton (7.6), Glastonbury (8.2) and Manchester (8.8).
The cities and towns with the highest vacancy rates were East Winsor (21.9 percent), New Britain (21.7), East Hartford (21.5), Berlin (17.1), South Windsor (15.2), Hartford (14.2), Vernon (12.1), Windsor (11.1), Bloomfield (10.8) and Wethersfield (9.3).
The KeyPoint report also looked at changes in the restaurant market since 2005.
The restaurants that added the most locations over the last 10 years were (in order) Subway, Chipotle, Panera Bread, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Five Guys, Popeye’s, Jake’s Wayback Burgers, Buffalo Wild Wings and Plan B Burger Bar.
The restaurants that took away the most locations were (in order) Friendly’s, Ninety-Nine, D’Angelo’s, Burger King and Boston Market.
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