El Paseo vacancy rate continues to rise as J Crew sets to close

On Saturday, the J. Crew on El Paseo in Palm Desert will be shutting its doors for good. The closure isn’t an outlier when it comes to one of the city’s most prominent thoroughfares, however. Just last Sunday, the Teavana on El Paseo also shut down for good.

The closures continue to feed El Paseo’s rising vacancy rate. According to the city of Palm Desert, the street’s vacancy rate currently sits at 10 percent, lower than its 2016 rate of 17 percent, but not quite as stellar as its pre-recession figure of 6 percent.

The city has contracted Gibbs Consulting Group to address the issues the retail hotbed is facing.
“Our consultant identified high rents and a lack of walkability as possible contributing factors to vacancies on El Paseo,” read the city’s statement. “The City cannot do anything about the high rents, but we can increase the district’s walkability and its sense of place.”

Gibbs Consulting has presented a handful of potential remedies to increase business in the shopping district, including widening sidewalks, removing a traffic lane and adding more shaded areas. The Group also proposed moving the art currently displayed on the traffic median between the eastbound and westbound lanes to a more pedestrian-friendly location.