Retail as a Location Multiplier: EVERSTREET's Ann Ehrhart on Unlocking Hidden Value

Developers typically evaluate ground-floor retail solely by the rent it generates, but Ann Ehrhart, a Boston-based retail strategist and founder of EVERSTREET, argues that this metric misses the bigger picture. According to Ehrhart, a property’s address doesn’t change, but its location value can improve—and retail is one of the most effective tools for achieving that. Retail’s impact extends far beyond its own square footage; a successful restaurant, for example, can make people want to live, work, and spend time nearby, boosting demand across residential, office, hospitality, and surrounding real estate. While traditional measures like rent, net operating income, and occupancy capture some value, Ehrhart says they fail to account for the full economic multiplier that great retail and placemaking create. She points to research showing that walkable, mixed-use environments command measurable premiums in home values, apartment rents, and office and retail rents, and generate more property tax revenue per acre than lower-density development. “People aren’t paying a premium for sidewalks. They’re paying for what the sidewalks connect them to,” she says.

Ehrhart cautions that more retail is not the same as better retail. The multiplier comes from the right retail—not the most. EVERSTREET evaluates fit through market demand, defined as the intersection of consumer demand and tenant demand, and aligns merchandising, design, and underwriting around that understanding. This principle is central to the firm’s mission: tenants must be supported by the surrounding community for the space to perform over time. At the storefront level, Ehrhart encourages developers and investors to ask not only how much rent a tenant can pay but also what the retail investment can do for the value of the location. The highest-rent tenant may not be the one that most enhances residential retention, office demand, or foot traffic. “That’s when retail becomes a capital allocation conversation, not simply a leasing conversation,” she says. For developers weighing a mixed-use program, the practical step is to look past what a storefront is worth on its own and ask what it can do for the future value of the place around it.