Hit 83% occupancy across my Detroit storefronts last month and honestly I'm still shocked
I manage six small retail spaces on Woodward and Michigan Ave and for the past two years I was stuck around 60% occupancy. Last month we hit 83% and I couldn't believe the number when my property manager texted it to me. The weird part is I didn't do anything fancy with brokers or ads. I just started calling every tenant who left and asking why. Three of them said the same thing: parking and lighting out front. So I spent $4,200 on new LED lights and repainted the parking lines myself over a weekend. Within 5 weeks I had two new leases signed and a third one pending. That's it. No big marketing push, no fancy commercial service packages. Now I'm wondering if I've been overthinking this whole thing. Has anyone else in Detroit had a similar fix that came down to something stupid simple?