EMPLOYMENT GAINS, IMPROVED ECONOMY
TO BOOST RETAIL MARKET IN DENVER

DENVER, March 16, 2010 – While the retail vacancy rate in Denver will continue to rise in 2010 due to inventory expansion and weak retail spending in the suburbs, the local economic outlook is improving, according to the 2010 National Retail Report by Marcus & Millichap, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm. Job growth will resume, supported by relocations.

“Retail investment activity in Denver will increase in 2010 as benchmark prices are determined and buyers return to the market,” says Michael Hoffman, first vice president and regional manager of Marcus & Millichap’s Denver office. “Owners who are not financially positioned to hold for the next three to five years have begun to come to terms with market realities.”

Following are some of the most significant aspects of the Denver Retail Research Report:

• Local employers are expected to add 13,000 jobs this year, a 1.1 percent gain. In 2009, roughly 39,500 workers were let go.
• Retail development will total 670,000 square feet in 2010, down from 1.6 million square feet last year.
• Despite easing construction, vacancy will finish the year at 11.4 percent, up 60 basis points from 2009, when the average rate rose 110 basis points.
• Asking rents will end 2010 at $15.59 per square foot while effective rents slip to $13.34 per square foot, declines of 3.6 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.

Also included in the report is the firm’s annual National Retail Index (NRI), a snapshot analysis that ranks 44 retail markets based on a series of 12-month forward-looking supply and demand indicators. Denver moves up three places this year to No. 19. Washington, D.C., claimed the top spot in this year’s National Retail Index (NRI) for the second year in a row due to a low vacancy rate and healthy job growth. Projected job gains boosted San Diego one place to No. 2 and a lack of significant construction in recent years moved San Francisco up one notch to No. 3. Forecasted job growth elevated New York City four places to No. 4 and continued layoffs dropped New Jersey three places to No. 5, despite low vacancy and the state’s relatively steady economy.

For a copy of Marcus & Millichap’s National Retail Report and the complete NRI rankings, visit www.MarcusMillichap.com.

With more than 1,200 investment professionals in offices nationwide, Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services is the largest firm specializing in commercial real estate investment services in the nation. Marcus & Millichap closed 3,441 transactions in 2009, the highest of any commercial real estate brokerage firm. Founded in 1971, the firm has perfected a powerful system for marketing properties that combines product specialization, local market expertise, the industry’s most comprehensive research, state-of-the-art technology and relationships with the largest pool of qualified investors nationally.

Atlanta • Austin • Baltimore • Birmingham • Boise • Boston • Brooklyn • Central Illinois • Charlotte • Charlotte Uptown • Chicago • Chicago Downtown • Cincinnati • Cleveland • Clinton • Columbia • Columbus • Dallas • Denver • Des Moines • Detroit • Encino • Ft. Collins • Ft. Lauderdale • Ft. Worth • Grand Rapids • Honolulu • Houston • Indianapolis • Jackson • Jacksonville • Kansas City • Lafayette • Las Vegas • Little Rock • Long Beach • Los Angeles • Louisville • Madison • Manhattan • Memphis • Miami • Milwaukee • Minneapolis • Nashville • New Haven • New Jersey • New Mexico • Newport Beach • Oak Brook • Oakland • Oklahoma City • Omaha • Ontario • Orlando • Palo Alto • Philadelphia • Phoenix • Pittsburgh • Portland • Providence • Raleigh • Reno • Sacramento • Salt Lake City • San Antonio • San Diego • San Francisco • St. Louis • Seattle • Tampa • Tucson • Vero Beach • Washington, D.C. • Western Massachusetts • West Los Angeles • Williamsburg