Within the retail real estate field Clayton Research has undertaken studies for public and private sector clients. Retail real estate studies are often needed as part of official plan reviews or in support of applications for new retail developments. In addition, Clayton Research often advises clients prior to the application stage with regard to the best-suited uses for a particular site.

Retail real estate studies may be required to address the following types of questions:

Highest and Best Use
What's the most profitable use for this property? - demand, viability and synergies between uses.

Market Outlook
What is the size of the retail opportunity? - target markets, growth prospects, income and expenditures, and competition.

Peer Review
Is the background research solid? - how other studies were done and what conclusions that were reached.

Municipal Impacts
What would this mean for the municipality? - other retail facilities and the planned municipal retail structure.

Needs Analysis
What will our new community need? - Projections of the amount, type and format of retail space that can be supported by planned development.

Expert Witness
What do independent experts think? - testimony for hearings related to retail/commercial lands and projects.

A landowner was considering development options for lands in suburban Waterloo with both a mixed retail/residential New Urbanism village centre and a more traditional community sized shopping centre. Clayton Research assessed the market basis for each of the proposed uses and reviewed the market success of existing suburban mixed used nodes. A key conclusion was that there was not enough market support for the amount of retail space proposed.

Clayton Research was commissioned to analyze the market potential of the retail commercial component of The Village, and the impact of the proposed retail space on downtown retailing. The analysis concluded that there was sufficient potential for staged growth in this "New Urbanism" community, and that there would be little, if any, negative impacts on the existing retailers in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

As part of the municipality’s Block Planning process, this study quantified the future market demand for District, Neighbourhood, and Local Convenience Commercial Centres. It also re-evaluated the current OPA 600 designations and provided recommendations on locating the commercial components of these designations, based on market considerations. Market opportunities were identified for supermarket space, department store space, and local convenience commercial space.

A landowner was considering possible redesignation of its lands for new format retailing use, and wanted to know what impact this would have on the City's forecasts for employment growth. Clayton Research assessed the impact of redesignation on the amount of office commercial development, and whether the change in use would generate at least as much employment as the existing designation for office and employment lands. The report also found that synergy of the proposed retail on remaining office lands would be positive.

A rezoning was proposed to allow commercial plaza uses in a prestige industrial plaza. The owners of a designated community shopping centre site across the street complained. Clayton Research examined whether the proposed redesignation would negatively impact the development potential of the community shopping centre site.

The City of Mississauga commissioned Clayton Research to review a consultant’s market demand impact analysis, as well as two retail market reports conducted by its own Planning and Building Department. Clayton Research also provided expert testimony at the ensuing OMB hearing.

Frank Clayton, President, is the firm’s leading expert for retail real estate studies.