Columbus Retail Market Report

Net-lease space availability at a premium. Columbus' vacancy rate within single-tenant properties held flat year-over-year at 2.6 percent in March 2024, the lowest measure for any major U.S. market outside of North Carolina. Fewer than 1.8 million square feet of segment retail stock was available for lease metrowide in the first quarter, compared to a long-term average of more than 3 million square feet. Strength in the single-tenant sector is far-reaching, with 10 of Columbus' 12 submarkets holding vacancy rates below 3 percent in March 2024 and six of those areas having sub-2 percent figures. That list is highlighted by Columbus North — which holds the most single-tenant inventory in the metro — recording a 70-basis-point vacancy drop to 1.9 percent. That tightness supported segment rent growth of nearly 12 percent annually in the submarket.