The Dallas-Fort Worth retail market’s occupancy record it set in 2023 persisted in 2024, according to a report from real estate firm Weitzman.
Retail occupancy rates in the metroplex were 95.1% for the second straight year in 2024. According to the report, 2023 and 2024 were the only years DFW exceeded 95% since Weitzman began assessing the market in 1990.
By the end of 2024, DFW’s inventory reached 199.9 million square feet, including the 1.9 million square feet removed through conversions to non-retail space. This figure represents an increase from the 197.1 million square feet of inventory at the end of 2023.
When zooming in on Dallas, the occupancy rate last year was similarly 95.1%. However, 2024 represented a slight uptick for Dallas, climbing from the 95.0% witnessed at the end of 2023.
DFW’s impressive rate was primarily attributed “to the health of the market’s largest shopping center category in terms of square feet, the grocery-anchored Community Center category,” read the report.
This category’s occupancy rate climbed to 96.4% at the end of 2024, the highest ever recorded and a step up from the 96.2% witnessed at the end of 2023. The category covers 74.4 million square feet across 495 locations, the largest of any other in the metroplex.
The Community category was also the metroplex’s most active construction category, according to Weitzman.
“Community centers continue to benefit from the strength of their grocery store anchors, as well as small-shop tenant mixes that focus on high-traffic concepts from quick-serve and casual restaurants, services, fitness, health and beauty,” the report continued.
Weitzman expects new retail space deliveries to surge in 2025 due to significant anchor spaces set to open in the city by the likes of H-E-B, Kroger, Walmart, Costco, Target, Tom Thumb, and others.