[ImPostingOnHN]

> Nobody is going to rent ground floor retail space in an area with no foot traffic

of course they will, at a low enough rent, obviously, which is the point: lowering rent is indeed a choice, as is going bankrupt, abandoning the property, foreclosure, or selling it at whatever price

[latchkey]

There is a ground floor retail spot near my house with a for-rent sign on the front, that has been empty for years. People have their reasons.

[ImPostingOnHN]

in that case, the reason is that the owner failed to lower rent, declare bankruptcy, abandon the property, get foreclosed on, or sell the property

let the owner rent it for a dollar a month and we'll see if it gets rented

[latchkey]

You left out one other case... the owner wants a specific tenant or in the example that started this whole thread, a Chipotle.

[ImPostingOnHN]

who cares what the owner wants?

the owner probably wants a billion dollars and a pony, too, but what they can have are the options I listed

the reason they don't have tenants is because their asking rent is too high and demand is low

in capitalism, that means they should lower rent

[latchkey]

One more reason I just came across for you... maybe nobody wants to open a store in Gotham City and no amount of free rent can convince them otherwise...

https://twitter.com/bett_yu/status/1685778275975761920

[ImPostingOnHN]

Not a very convincing hypothesis.

[latchkey]

One can surmise that the owner cares. As you say, capitalism.

[ImPostingOnHN]

and that's why commercial space is sitting vacant: the owners failed to price them properly

as I said: capitalism