Detroit Retail Market Report

New vendors enter the metro. As the city reopens, the demand for social and interactive retail destinations has grown. Entrances into the market include the indoor skydiving company iFLY in Novi, the company's first location in Michigan. Other large leases recently signed include an art exhibit near downtown and indoor golf simulators, one in the core and one in Rochester Hills. At the same time, the local vendor Art Van Furniture filed for bankruptcy during the recent economic shock, but national chains like Ashley Furniture have filled many of the vacated properties, with other buildings undergoing redevelopment. Entrants and revitalizations like these aided a net absorption swell during 2021. Nearly 3 million square feet of space was taken off the market, eclipsing the losses recorded in the first year of COVID-19 by more than 500,000 square feet.