Retail Space

Tenant and landlord representation for retail properties across the Triangle.

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Triangle retail storefront

Featured commercial listings

101 Cosgrove Avenue, Chapel Hill, NC
Office

101 Cosgrove Avenue, Chapel Hill, NC

From $625,000

7,319 RSF · For Sale or Lease
109 Church Street, Chapel Hill, NC
Retail

109 Church Street, Chapel Hill, NC

Call for Rate

6,000 SF · Downtown Chapel Hill
1600 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC
Office

1600 E. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC

$2,300,000

12,800 SF · For Sale or Lease

Retail space in the Triangle

Retail leasing across the Triangle. The market mix runs from boutique downtown corridors and university-adjacent retail in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Durham, to community shopping centers, mixed-use, and pad sites across Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Cary, and north Raleigh. There's relatively little large-format big-box space in the inner Triangle markets, which makes site selection and tenant mix more deliberate. TRES works both sides of retail leases because in a smaller market, general brokers do.

01

Featured engagement: Serpentine Salon at University Place

TRES represented Serpentine on their lease at the new University Place development, including a full buildout from vanilla box. It's a fair example of how we stay involved from site selection through delivery.

02

Currently searching: Chapel Hill piano bar

TRES is actively working to find a location for a Chapel Hill piano bar. Live retail deals in progress. If you have space that fits an entertainment-use tenant, reach out.

03

What makes retail leasing different

Retail leases are more complex than office. When landlords provide marketing and customer traffic, retail leases often include percentage-of-sales clauses, a piece office brokers rarely deal with. We draft, negotiate, and stress-test these clauses so the economics work for the tenant long-term.

Where we work

Choose a community for local market context and current listings.

Chapel Hill, NC
Chapel Hill

TRES's home market. UNC and UNC Health drive demand for Franklin Street retail and medical office, while residential ranges from condos near campus to estate homes in Governor's Club. Chapel Hill–Carrboro City Schools rank among the top three districts in North Carolina.

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Carrboro, NC
Carrboro

Carrboro is a walkable, bike-friendly town on the bus line, anchored by Weaver Street Market, a long-standing food co-op. Families enjoy main-street charm alongside restaurants and eateries that draw neighbors out nightly.

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Durham, NC
Durham

Anchored by Research Triangle Park, Durham is a blossoming city with high-end dining, DPAC, and the Durham Bulls. Mixed-use growth continues across office, tech, medical, and new residential communities.

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Hillsborough, NC
Hillsborough

Hillsborough is the Orange County seat with a historic downtown worth lingering in. It feels like a retreat outside the major hubs while staying close enough to commute into Chapel Hill or Durham. Residential parcels tend to be larger than closer-in Triangle pockets.

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Pittsboro, NC
Pittsboro

Pittsboro has grown from a small town into a larger community with new housing developments, fine homes, and emerging mixed-use and retail. It works well as a bedroom community for Raleigh, Cary, and Apex while keeping Chapel Hill and Jordan Lake within easy reach.

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Ready to discuss your retail space needs?

Whether you're looking for the right storefront or working to maximize your retail property's value, the first conversation is just a conversation. Reach out anytime.

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Frequently asked questions

In most retail lease transactions, the landlord pays the brokerage commission as part of the deal. You get professional representation at no direct cost to your business. We are always upfront about the fee structure before any engagement begins.

For most inline retail spaces, 6 to 9 months is a good starting point. If your concept requires a significant build-out, especially restaurants or medical offices, plan for 9 to 12 months minimum. New construction pad sites often require even longer lead times.

Percentage rent requires you to pay additional rent once your gross sales exceed a specified threshold, typically called a "breakpoint." It is common in shopping centers and high-traffic retail locations. We negotiate the breakpoint, exclusions, and reporting requirements to make sure the clause is fair and manageable.

Yes. Restaurants are one of our specialties in retail leasing. We understand the unique provisions around hood and grease trap requirements, HVAC capacity, patio rights, exclusive use clauses for food concepts, and the landlord concessions that offset high build-out costs.

We use a combination of listing syndication, direct broker outreach, and targeted prospecting to retail concepts we know are expanding in the Triangle. Our relationships with franchise developers and local operators give us access to tenants before they hit the open market.

NNN leases are standard in retail because they allow you to pass through property taxes, insurance, and CAM charges. We also incorporate percentage rent clauses for high-traffic locations, annual rent escalations, and provisions that protect your property standards and tenant mix.

Yes. We have worked with property owners on repositioning strategies that include re-tenanting anchor spaces, adjusting the tenant mix, improving signage and curb appeal, and resetting rents to market levels. Sometimes the turnaround starts with one strong new tenant that changes the narrative.

We represent owners of strip centers, grocery-anchored shopping centers, mixed-use retail, stand-alone retail buildings, and pad site developments throughout the Triangle. Each format has its own leasing dynamics, and we tailor our strategy accordingly.