Evans, Georgia is not only the best place to live in the United States according to Money Magazine, but also a great place to conduct business.  If you are looking to locate your business in Evans, here’s some information that may help you as you search for a location.

From 2019 to 2020, the price of an outparcel averaged almost $900,000.  The outparcels in our study ranged in size from .54 acres to 1.16 but averaged .92 acres.

An outparcel is defined as a small lot on the outer edge of a shopping center, usually reserved for later sale of fast-food or chain restaurant, also called a pad site.  Generally, outparcels are around 1 acre in size.  In theory, the price of an outparcel should have some relationship to fundamental attributes such as access, visibility, demographics, and quality of the anchor or development that it sits in front of.

Sites that had full-motion direct access to traffic had the highest sale prices per acre.   515 Mullins Crossing had the highest sale price (1.296M/Ac) in our study and sat on a signalized intersection in front of a Belk-anchored shopping center.

Access is another important factor.  Washington road is a thriving commercial corridor partly because it has a turn lane (or suicide lane) on most of its stretch from Downtown Augusta past Evans.  Many commercial corridors are seeing medians and concrete barriers installed, and this limits access to the other lane, and creates “dead zones” or pockets where there is not enough traffic to satisfy retailer’s requirements.   Many shopping center developers limit access to the main road and give outparcels access via an internal road structure.  The Mullins Crossing Outparcels are good examples of this.  This can be an issue for Quick-Serve Restaurants (QSRs) that need to get parking and a drive-thru on a small site—having two curb cuts can be a good way to get cars in and out and still have room for parking.

Another consideration for retailers is off-site utilities.  Many shopping center developers size stormwater and parking in such a way to allow the outparcels to be very efficient—not only saving them money in site costs but also allowing them to be very efficient and potentially fit on a smaller site.

Something to be aware of is residual value.  Many anchors such as Wal-Mart will place Covenants, Conditions, & Restrictions (CCRs) on their outparcels, which will impact the number of users that occupy the outparcel, which would negatively impact their sale value.  Another item to consider would be size—although your current user may be able to use a site smaller than .7, most others can’t, and will make finding another tenant a challenge should your current tenant vacate.

You can find our Evans Outparcel Report here..  Please let me know if you see additional details for us to add, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions.   For developers—what trends are you seeing as you search for outparcels?   For users—what are common themes you’ve seen across the best sites that you have occupied?   We’d love to hear from you.  Thanks for reading!