San Diego Retail Market Report

Travel revival a boon for downtown vendors. Home to an economy deeply tied to tourism, San Diego County is expected to welcome nearly 31 million visitors this year, a total nearly on par with 2019. The influx of outside consumers this spring and summer is poised to have the largest impact on retailers in Central San Diego, a submarket that includes downtown, beach communities and neighborhoods proximate to Balboa Park. Here, vacancy sat at 4 percent entering April, following compression of 90 basis points over the prior 12 months. The anticipated improvement in tourism, aided by the return of Comic-Con International this July, will bolster consumer spending in the submarket, potentially sparking heightened retailer demand for available space. Area vacancy, however, may be skewed by the upcoming delivery of The Campus at Horton, whose sizable volume of retail space was unaccounted for as of late April.