Retail Demand for Las Vegas Strip Space Reaches Fever Pitch
LAS VEGAS, NV – On the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, nowadays you will find the usual stalwarts – mainly casinos and hotel resorts – nestled in tightly with another money-making business currently expanding their presence: retail. Looking to take advantage of the massive amount of foot traffic that roams about the Strip on a daily basis, retail is becoming more and more prevalent in that unique section of Vegas, with their ownership paying astounding amounts of money for as many precious square-feet of real estate as they can get their hands on.
The businesses that are dotting the Strip these days are nothing out of the ordinary; mainly convenience stores, pharmacies, souvenir shops, T-shirt vendors, tour booths, and more. But in a city with a thriving and huge tourism industry like Las Vegas, these stores are typically packed on a near 24-hour basis generating huge dollar totals from the 42 million visitors to Vegas on an annual basis.
New York businessman Eli Gindi, while on a trip to Vegas five years ago, learned that part of the Strip’s Showcase Mall was for sale; after talking to a vendor who told him that they were paying a whopping $50,000 a month in rent on a simple table in that mall – and obviously doing while turning in a healthy profit – Gindi refused to leave to go back to New York until he had purchased part of the property for $145 million. His company – Gindi Capital – later purchased the rest of the mall, and then began snapping up other shopping and dining properties on the Strip with profits beginning to rolling.
Previously, the Strip’s retail presence was primarily countless casinos and resorts lining its streets; stores and eateries were contained within, requiring foot traffic to actually enter and seek them out. However, over the years, street-front retail has come to the forefront, so to speak, and as a result business owners have been fighting each other over the demand for precious and ever-elusive space.
The demand for retail in Las Vegas stands in stark contrast to similar tourist spots in much of the rest of the country, where retail is slowly but surely drying up in many markets as internet-based alternatives take over. Part of the reason is price; in New York City’s Times Square, retail property often goes for as much as $1,800 per square foot, whereas on the Strip that rate averages around $300. Also, the tourist-to-resident ratio when it comes to foot traffic in Las Vegas is far, far higher than it is in Manhattan, leading to more potential consumer opportunities.
These factors all combine to create a unique circumstance in Las Vegas where retail is a force to be reckoned with, and one that continues to grow and become more profitable by the day.
Shelter Realty is a Real Estate and Property Management Company specializing in the areas of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, NV. Feel free to give us a call at 702.376.7379 so we can answer any questions you may have.