THE landscape of the Bathurst central business district is changing, but thankfully COVID-19 hasn't forced a lot of businesses out of their premises.
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Raine and Horne Bathurst director Matt Clifton said his agency hasn't seen many tenants leaving during the pandemic, which has had a significant impact on many businesses in Australia.
"We haven't had a lot of movement in terms of tenants vacating, which is good," he said.
"To date, our take on it is we haven't really seen business closures as a result of COVID-19, that's a positive, and I think the government subsidies have helped with that.
"What happens beyond March will be the telling factor once subsidies come off, but at this stage, from our perspective our tenants are managing and they seem to be travelling on okay."
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The one thing that has changed, though, is the level of inquiry from new tenants, particularly for retail premises, which dropped.
"I think one of the challenges there is is that, during lockdown, people who weren't already using online started to move towards online and that's created a challenge for the retail sector," he said.
Commercial industrial leasing on the other hand was considered quite strong in 2020.
"Certainly on a smaller scale, the industrial leasing has been quite active, so sheds, industrial factories up to 300 square metres and so on have been pretty strong, which is good," Mr Clifton said.
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He also saw good activity around office spaces, with a number of existing businesses relocating to other premises in Bathurst.
"In a couple of cases we've had expansions and in other cases just relocating to more suitable premises ... not downsizing due to working from home," he said.
Looking to the future, Mr Clifton said he'd like to see more retail in the CBD, but thinks it's more likely that other kinds of businesses will take over those spaces.
"I can see potential some of the vacant retail space being occupied commercially, as in non-retail," he said.
"I'd like to see more retail come back into town. It's been an issue that's been about prior to COVID. COVID has exacerbated that problem and so there's not a lot of confidence out there at the moment.
"There are businesses and retail businesses out there doing very well, but there are some that aren't doing so well, so I think it'll take some time to get shops leased and I do believe there will be more of a mix of commercial rather than just retail."