The number of empty storefronts on Georgia Street dropped by 40% since last year

I was looking at the Amarillo Economic Development Corporation's quarterly report they emailed out last month. It says the downtown vacancy rate fell from 25% to 15% in just 12 months. That surprised me because I still see a lot of closed signs when I drive through. Has anyone else noticed new shops opening up on the east end lately?

2 comments

2 Comments

mary_kelly8d ago

I read in the paper a few weeks back that the city council approved some kind of tax break for new businesses opening downtown. Might be why we're seeing more activity. Been driving past Georgia and 3rd a lot for work, and I noticed a coffee shop and a little boutique where that old laundromat used to be. The east end still looks rough though, lots of plywood on windows. Maybe it's just happening slower over there. But 40% is a big number, I wonder if they're counting pop-up shops or only permanent tenants.

thomas.cameron8d ago

Figure out if you can see the fine print on that tax break plan, because sometimes they count anything with a sign in the window as "occupied." Idk if it's 40% storefronts or 40% of the total available square footage, those are two different numbers. I'd check the city's economic development page, they usually post the quarterly reports if you dig around a bit. The east end probably needs more incentives for landlords to actually fix up those buildings instead of just waiting for someone to buy them out.