YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Small office spaces are generating interest in parts of the Mahoning Valley while traditional retail properties face continued challenges and national restaurant and coffee chains scout select commercial corridors.
Vince Hillard, a real estate agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Preferred Realty, says he has mostly received calls with interest in small office spaces in recent months.
Hillard offers real estate services mostly for commercial sites in Mercer and Mahoning counties, with some in Trumbull.
“Most of the calls I’ve been getting are for smaller offices,” Hillard says, “not big offices, just smaller, 1,500 square feet and under.”
He says many callers are looking for between 1,000 and 1,500 square feet, even one-room office spaces. He believes that may be driven by people who cannot operate their businesses from home, such as those who need to be state certified.
Hillard, who owns retail book store businesses with his wife, says few people are looking for retail spaces, a trend that has been ongoing since more people got comfortable shopping online during the pandemic. He says it has left a lot of empty spaces in downtowns and strip malls.
“I just think it’s taken years and years. It’s finally evident when you drive down Main Street or anywhere and you see all these vacant buildings,” Hillard says. “It’s the result of years of relentless competition from online shopping and Covid is what really tipped the scale.”
Alan Friedkin, associate broker with Burgan Friedkin Commercial Group, says he has been working with a couple of national coffee chains and food franchises that are considering locating to the Valley.
Many are looking to invest in the commercial business district corridor areas around other retail, he notes.
That proves difficult in some areas. For instance, Thomas says state Route 224 from I-680 to state Route 11 offers few available spaces.
And the Eastwood Mall area in Trumbull County remains busy with little available space.
“The way the Cafaros have redone that area and used their outparcels to bring in national tenants, I mean it’s a great redevelopment story for the area as to what could happen,” Thomas says.
He notes with so many choices, the shoppers are not just local now, but traveling from other counties to the Eastwood Mall complex.
Another area of note is the Belmont corridor in Liberty Township, near the two new Mercy Health centers, according to Friedkin, who has an office located in the same area.
“We’re getting inquiries into the Liberty area as a result of those hospitals,” Friedkin says, “which is drawing a lot more people up to this particular market.”
Pictured at top: The Belmont corridor in Liberty.