Mentor Receives Results of Retail Vacancy Rate Study

Ron Traub, the director of economic and community development in Mentor, said people will often lament to him about the vacant stores they see while driving on Mentor Avenue.

However, the 2011 CB/Richard Ellis Retail Market Report shows that Mentor is doing better than the region and county average when it comes to retail vacancy.

"When you compare Mentor with the data from the greater Cleveland area, we're doing fairly well," Traub said.

The report said Mentor's vacancy rate was 5.17 percent as of early January. By comparison, the Lake County and greater Cleveland vacancy rates were 13.06 and 12.36 percent, respectively.

The city has 11 shopping centers of 50,000 square feet or more and another 27 smaller shopping centers. The overall vacancy rate for these 38 centers is about 7 percent, which is 1 percent less than in 2010.

Of the 11 big shopping centers, the vacancy rate is 5.2 percent. The largest vacancies are in the Great Lakes Mall and the Colonial Building, according to the report.

Traub said the city and its businesses have plans to decrease the vacancy rate. For example, Great Lakes Mall hopes its will attract new tenants.

Also, the city is combing through a list of 1,100 retailers who have said they are interested in a new Ohio location. Of course, the city will not be courting all 1,100 retailers, some of who already have stores in Mentor.

Traub said the city hopes to reach out to "several hundred" of these businesses by giving them information about Mentor to see if they would be a good fit.