Austin’s retail scene is not acting like a market that is slowing down. In 2025, landlords inked roughly 3.4 million square feet of new retail leases, keeping big-box space busy even as some national chains trimmed their local footprints.
Leasing Held Steady Despite Closures
CoStar reports that the metro logged about 3.4 million square feet of retail leases last year, roughly in line with Austin’s long-term average. That tally came “despite a rise in closures,” a reminder that backfilling and fresh tenant demand kept overall deal volume from slipping.
High Occupancy And Targeted New Deliveries
Local researchers say Austin wrapped the year with some of the tightest occupancy levels in Texas while developers pushed ahead with select projects, including grocery-anchored centers. A mid-year review cited occupancy near 97 percent and highlighted that new construction is being rolled out carefully rather than in a flood, according to a Weitzman market report noted by the Austin American-Statesman.
Large Pipeline, But Much Of It Preleased
The region also has a sizable construction queue. Lee & Associates data put more than 3.4 million square feet of retail under construction across the Austin metro, ranking the area third nationwide. That pipeline, as outlined by CultureMap Austin, is already heavily spoken for, which helps explain how landlords are still finding takers for vacated big-box space even as some national retailers retrench.
Who's Moving In
The tenants moving into those big boxes are mostly the usual recession-resistant suspects. Backfill demand has leaned toward grocers, fitness operators and discount retailers, tenants that can turn large footprints into steady revenue. Recent market rundowns pointed to deals from fitness and discount brands such as Crunch Fitness and Burlington, along with grocers stepping into former big-box locations, according to a review by Partners Real Estate.
What It Means For Rents And Vacancy
With space so tight and new projects arriving in a controlled trickle, asking rents have stayed relatively stable. At the same time, landlords that own older or less well-located centers are feeling more pressure to upgrade or move on. A retail report from Marcus & Millichap pegged metro vacancy in the low-3 percent range, a level that continues to underpin strong leasing momentum.
Broker Contacts And Next Steps
On-the-ground brokers are still steering much of this activity. CoStar’s update lists Jennifer Petrovich, a vice president at CLD Realty, as a contact for its Austin retail snapshot, underscoring how local dealmakers remain central to matching tenants with space. The steady flow of grocers and experiential users into the market suggests that leasing velocity will remain a key measure of how quickly Austin can absorb its new construction pipeline, according to CoStar.
Outlook
For shoppers, all of this translates into fresh storefronts and updated centers across suburban corners and infill corridors. For investors, it points to selective opportunities where prime locations can still command a premium. Analysts at Weitzman and other local trackers expect grocers and fitness concepts to keep leading the leasing charge into 2026 as they continue backfilling underperforming boxes, per reporting by the Austin American-Statesman and industry briefs.
