If we were to forecast this year’s local commercial leasing trend based on its starting months, we would say the climate is confident, happy and growing – with a surge of new retailers at the forefront.

Within the first three months of 2015 the IPC leasing team signed 26 new leases covering 89,851 square feet of commercial space in Naples and Bonita Springs. New retail and restaurant tenants led the majority with 15 new leases, capturing a total of 70,814 square feet of local commercial space. Of this total, 88.2% (62,438 square feet) is occupied by new business ventures or concepts new to Southwest Florida. The other 11.8 % (8,376 square feet) of retail space is leased by existing local businesses expanding their locations within the local market. There were no leases signed first quarter with existing local retailers seeking relocation. To this end, we can empirically support that our local commercial leasing environment is optimistic and new retailers are leading the trend with gusto.