Publications

- April 1, 2013: Vol. 25, Number 4

To read this full article you need to be subscribed to Institutional Real Estate Americas

Vital signs: How the boom in healthcare spending can benefit retail centers

by Christopher Macke

Health-related expenditures in the United States have increased from comprising 16 percent of personal consumption expenditures in 1991 to more than 20 percent by 2011, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. As baby boomers rapidly move into their “golden” years, this crowding out of traditional retail expenditures will only accelerate — the very expenditures shopping center tenants depend on.

How significant is this trend? We conservatively estimate that between 2011 and 2016 healthcare expenditures will increase by more than $600 billion — six times the estimated $101 billion increase in e-commerce sales. This can be viewed as a threat or as an opportunity for shopping center owners to evolve with the changing spending patterns of baby boomers.

Call it medtail — shopping center owners proactively targeting medical-related tenants. Medtail is not haphazardly signing a lease when LensCra

Forgot your username or password?