Absorption is the difference in physically occupied space from one period to another and is a key measure of demand. Absorption data in this report exclude preleasing in unfinished shopping centers, which may simply represent tenants moving from space in existing centers.

Absorption forecasts are provided for the upcoming six months rather than annually to allow for the short lead time for construction of new shopping centers. Absorption is forecast for each metro area as a whole and then is distributed among submarkets on the basis of the anticipated capture rate of each submarket.

The metro-area forecast is based on analysis of retail sales trends and on historical ratios of shopping center space absorption to preleasing activity and available supply (existing vacant space plus space under construction). A ratio is applied to current levels of leasing activity plus available supply to estimate absorption for the next six months.

For each submarket, the ratio of space absorbed vs. available supply in recent historical periods is applied to current supply plus leasing activity. The resulting weighted factors are summed and each submarket's share of total metro-area absorption is multiplied by expected metro-area absorption to derive the absorption forecast for each submarket.

Building Status: Building status indicates building tenancy (Single tenant, Multi-tenant, Under Construction) and whether a building is for sale or for lease. Unless a building is being actively marketed "for sale", the default status is "for lease."

Community centers provide a wide range of facilities for both soft lines (apparel) and hard lines (hardware, appliances, etc.). The anchor tenant typically is a junior department store, variety store, or discount department store in addition to a supermarket. A community center does not have a full-line department store, although it may have a strong specialty store. Sizes range from 80,000 to 300,000 square ft.

Gross Leasable Area is the total floor area designed for tenants' occupancy and exclusive use, including basements, mezzanines, and upper floors. Measuring from the centerline of joint partitions and exterior wall faces, GLA is the income-producing space for which tenants pay rent.

Neighborhood centers sell convenience goods and personal services for day-to-day living needs of the immediate neighborhood, typically with a supermarket as anchor tenant. Sizes range from 30,000 to 120,000 square ft.

Occupancy measures the current relationship between supply and demand. Occupancy is the occupied squareuare footage of the submarket divided by the existing space in the submarket. Thus, if a submarket possesses 500,000 square ft of existing space, and the total occupied by tenants is 300,000 square ft, the submarket's occupancy is 60%. Gross occupancy includes space in all centers existing as of the survey date; market occupancy excludes space in centers that have been completed or renovated within the past six months. Comparing these figures indicates the relative leasing success of new centers.

If gross occupancy is lower than market occupancy (as it normally is), then occupancy of new space is not as high as that of older space. On the other hand, if market occupancy is lower than gross, then new space is leasing more successfully than older space, perhaps because new centers are attracting tenants away from older ones.

Regional centers sell general merchandise, apparel, furniture, and home furnishings in full depth and variety. Built around at least one full-line department store with a minimum of 100,000 square ft. Regional centers larger than 750,000 square ft with three or more department stores are classified as superregional.

Rental rates are quoted for a typical 2,000-square-ft tenant (therefore, not skewed by discounts that may apply to major tenants) in annual dollars per squareuare foot. Regional center rents are not included in average total rents by submarket or area.

Base rental rates exclude energy, insurance, and real estate taxes; total rents include base rent plus common area maintenance (CAM) fees. High and low rents reported for a given center are averaged; then, if necessary, the items mentioned are subtracted to derive an adjusted base rent. Total rent equals the adjusted rent plus CAM. Average rent then is derived by weighing each centers rent by the amount of occupied squareuare footage in the center.

Example:

Assuming these three centers represent all existing centers in a submarket, average total rent would be calculated as follows:

($11.00)(80,000) + ($9.60)(42,000) + ($8.40)(60,000) = $1,787.2/182,000 square ft = $9.82/square ft.

Shopping center classifications in this report generally correspond to Urban Land Institute definitions. See Strip Centers, Community Centers, Neighborhood Centers and Regional Centers for further reference.

Space Availability: Available space is provided in smallest and largest contiguous blocks (on a single floor or connected floors). Available space may be currently unleased and unoccupied or space coming available within the next few months. The Remarks field in the Property Profiles database gives an explanation of special lease terms, where applicable.

Submarket: A geographic area containing similar projects that typically compete for the same type of user or tenant.

Strip centers have 10,000 to 60,000 square ft and sell convenience goods (food, drugs, etc.) and personal services (laundry, dry cleaning, etc.), but do not have a supermarket as anchor tenant.