A student guide to off-campus Champaign-Urbana gems dailyillini.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailyillini.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
After plunging in 2020, central Ohio retail is climbing out of its pandemic hole.
Foot traffic is rising, leasing is up, and new stores are opening throughout the Columbus area, but plenty of clouds remain, especially for enclosed malls and older strip centers in central Ohio, which has more than twice the retail space of the U.S. average.
“A year ago, I definitely thought I was heading into what I thought would be the worst part of my career,” says David Lukes, CEO of SITE Centers, the Beachwood-based firm that owns or co-owns several premium Columbus shopping centers including Lennox Town Center, Polaris Towne Center, Sun Center and Easton Market. “Leasing activity now is the highest I’ve ever seen it. This is the most shocking turnaround I’ve ever seen.”