Market Report 2022

Colliers Market Report 2022

75

Sct. Clements Torv

Aarhus Renegotiations, relocations and flexible landlords have been the primary drivers of the gradual decline in retail vacancy levels witnessed in central Aarhus, including the high street, Strøget. Flexibility on the part of the land lords does not necessarily translate into rent reductions, but rather denotes a willingness to accommodate ten ants’ requirements, e.g., in terms of structural changes to the lease premises. Similarly, the increase in retail vacan cies at Strøget in the early stages of the coronavirus pan demic made it possible for tenants to relocate from prem ises of secondary quality or location to a relatively prime location at Strøget, because they were met by more flexible landlords than prior to the pandemic. In addition, the signal value of flexible landlords served to nudge tenants that had otherwise been reluctant to move at the time. Unlike Strøget in Copenhagen, Strøget in Aarhus has ben efitted from being less susceptible to the volatile tourism industry. This has become highly evident over the last cou ple of years as the large regional catchment area both his torically and to this day constitutes the main customer base. In the middle of Strøget, where Ryesgade meets Søndergade, the number of vacancies has been very mod erate with only few replacements over the past 12 months. In contrast, the stretch where Søndergade meets Sankt Clemens Torv has in the same period seen several relo cations and vacancies, although now virtually fully let with only a few vacancies left. Provincial locations Long before the outbreak of COVID-19, provincial high streets faced strong competition from the advance of e-commerce. On the national level, the local shopping streets of smaller towns have seen increasing vacancy rates for years on end. Many of the prevalent trends seen in Copenhagen and Aarhus are therefore also mirrored here. Due to the sharper focus on exposure and footfall, demand in provincial towns and cities also centres on prime loca tions to the detriment of more secondary locations. In late November 2021, in response to the increase in shop closures in small and medium-sized towns and cit ies, a broad majority in the Danish Parliament, Folketinget, launched a series of initiatives intended to revive town cen tres, once again making it attractive for new shops to settle in provincial locations. This is expected to have a favoura ble effect on the future development of the provincial retail landscape. Nevertheless, certain shops are still expected to increasingly opt for nationwide online sales, as the market ing possibilities here surpass those of the local provincial market. An obvious target group when reletting retail space in these locations would therefore be grocery shops.

Hotel Industrial/logistics Retail Residential Of f ice

Salling

Søndergade

Vacant shop units Tenanted shop units

Note : Count of retail vacancies at Ryesgade/ Søndergade, Aarhus, conducted end-December 2021. Vacant retail units include units let on fixed-term lease agreements (pop-ups and similar). Sourc e: Colliers

Ryesgade

Vacancy level in the Aarhus high street bears witness to a continued strong market despite the coronacrisis

Aarhus Central Station