Chew's News

St. Catharines’ Fourth Avenue continues to establish itself as one of the city's largest commercial/retail nodes with the growth of the 4th Avenue West Shopping Centre and First Place. The long established strip plazas and Super Centres of the area are now complimented by two mixed-use shopping centre’s, the new St. Catharines Hospital and the Pathstone Mental Health Facility.

The 4th Avenue West Shopping Centre sits between First Street and the Super Centre 2, and backs onto the 406. As of today, Princess Auto and KFC are operating on the property with the new headquarters for PenFinancial Credit Union under construction. Confirmed this week, a Sherwin-Williams paint store will open in the shopping centre, offering yet another national tenant and complementary commercial entity. In addition to Sherwin-Williams, two new restaurants are confirmed in East Side Mario's and Fionn MacCools. 

Your main goal as a commercial property owner is to maintain and drive a good revenue stream. In order to do so, you must recruit and retain tenants. Commercial property owners do have an advantage over residential landlords as commercial leasing lends itself to favourable long term leases, but being a commercial landlord is not without it’s challenges.

A commercial or retail property that is attractive to tenants will naturally draw interested parties; once the space is leased there are a number of strategies landlord’s can use to retain existing tenants and continue to promote the property as desirable.  

Below are 5 tips for retaining tenants for your commercial or retail property.

If you’ve recently invested in a commercial real estate asset, you’ve taken on many new responsibilities as a landlord. You’ve also established a number of business objectives to help you drive the ROI of your new asset. These may include tenant retention, general maintenance and an increase in property valuation.

Have you explored the benefits of hiring professional property managers to manage your new commercial entity? Through effective management of your asset, you are better able to maintain a profitable property while enjoying time needed to expand your investment portfolio.

How do you make your commercial property stand out when your prospective tenants and buyers have so many options? To stand out in a competitive market your building needs a competitive marketing strategy.

Marketing your building starts by having the right commercial real estate sales representative on your side. Marketing your asset successfully, is much more than photos on a website, it’s using a multifaceted plan to deliver the highest return.  

Last week, we covered what you need to know about your commercial lease, in this article we will break down the types of leases you may be required to pay and the terminology behind commercial leasing. There are two common types of leases your business may be subject to, what you pay will be determined in the negotiation of your lease.