Shortage of retail space availability?

[wolverine 0]

I have some friends who have secured everything they need to open a business except for space. They have been working for over a year now looking for appropriately sized vacancies, but there aren't any near campus. Just because you may have seen an empty space around town doesn't mean it's already been swiped up. That sprint store sat empty for quite some time, yet Chipotle snagged it fairly earlier before doing actual renovation work.

We have a couple of lots in a few places that can support retail arcades. It would be nice if developers could build some commercial development, but it seems like everything is mixed use. And because residential isn't doing well, one component can't happen without the other. Thoughts? I know a retail arcade is slated for construction and will be built on top of and around the old Registrar's office on Huron.

The only major slot opening up is Steve and Barry's on State, but that's way too much square footage for what my friends are looking for.