There
are at least two traders at QVM who are keen to sign up to multi year leases,
maybe 5*5*5, and want to know why QVM won’t accomodate them. While outside the
market there are retailers desperately looking for short term leases and
apparently landlords happy to accommodate them.
A
recent article in the Age identified the reason for lower vacancy rates on
Melbourne’s High Street, Armadale, shopping strip because landlords were
prepared to accommodate flexible leasing arrangements including leasing terms
as short as two years. Retailers there said they were grateful for the
opportunity to avoid punitive long term leases in an uncertain retail market.
Another
newspaper article has identified retail vacancy rates in shopping centres as
the highest since the GFC and report that centre owners are happy to look at
lower rents and more flexible terms.
QVM’s
situation is quite different. QVM would probably be quite happy to sign up to
longer leases if it wasn't for a little thing called a renewal. Renewal means
construction and change with all the uncertainty that goes along with that. It
is difficult to guarantee location when construction or change may gobble up a
stall or shop. It seems strange that leases can't be signed without defining
particular locations although maybe it is location that these traders are
trying to protect.
In
the meantime QVM have stated that they will restart lease and license
discussions which is a good thing even though renewal is likely to put a cap on
long term arrangements.