Orange County Retail Market Report

Cost-effective nodes lead as demographics shift. Orange County continued to outperform its peers, as it was the only major Southern California metro where retail vacancy declined in 2025. Established infill areas with lower rents, such as Santa Ana and Anaheim, saw stronger leasing, driven by grocery, fitness, and experiential tenants. This helped vacancy decline or remain flat in the north, west, and central parts of the county, led by a 180-basis-point drop to under 4 percent in the Santa Ana-Orange area. Despite population declines due to limited housing supply, affluent residents displacing lower-income households should support higher-value retailers, such as Sprouts moving into a former 99 Cents Only Store. Meanwhile, southern suburbs with more big-box space saw power center vacancy rise 140 basis points to over 9 percent amid large move-outs. By contrast, vacancy among neighborhood centers fell 70 basis points to under 6 percent, as necessity uses and small-shop demand limit availability.