Retail Development Model
Built for the deal we do most: a neighborhood center with an anchor, a line of shops and pads out front.
- Type
- Excel model
- Version
- v2.2
- Updated
- Aug 2026
- Stage
- Underwrite the project, Price the land
- File
- Excel workbook with macros (.xlsm), 1.1 MB
- Works in
- Microsoft Excel 2013 or newer, desktop
What it answers
- What will the center cost, and what will it be worth once it is leased?
- What can we pay for the land and still build it?
- How long does lease-up take, and what does the wait cost?
- What is the center worth when the pads sell at a lower cap rate than the shops?
What goes in
- Tenants by type: anchor, junior anchor, inline shops and outparcels
- Rent, free rent, improvement allowance and commissions for each tenant
- Hard and soft cost budget
- Construction loan and permanent loan
- Separate exit cap rates for pads, shops and anchor
What comes out
- Yield on cost and development spread
- Levered IRR and equity multiple
- Residual land value
- Tenant report
- Sensitivity tables
How we use it
This is the model behind our illustrative 45,000 SF center with two drive-thru pads. The pads are valued at their own, lower cap rate, because net lease buyers pay more for a single drive-thru tenant than for a line of shops.
Before you open it
- Use the desktop version of Excel. Excel for the web and other spreadsheet apps cannot run the parts of a model that use macros.
- On Windows, Excel blocks macros in any file downloaded from the internet and shows a red bar. Close the file, right-click it, choose Properties, tick Unblock and press OK, then open it again. If it came inside a zip, unblock the zip before you extract it.
- Read the Version tab first. It records the model's history and its authors. Leave it in place, unchanged, if you share the file.
Use and sharing
Free to use, adapt and share with anyone, as long as it stays free and its Version tab and credits stay in the file. Provided as is, for education. It is not investment, legal or tax advice, not an appraisal, and not an offer of any security. Any project figures in it are illustrative. Full terms, including credits, are in our Terms of Service.
Retail-Development-Model-v2.2.xlsm · SHA-256 47dc1b653ab915bf9ec9705ac49ec924507f0306b3ad1ddbe114824f94f313a6
Who it is for
Each of these has its own way to work with us.
Where it fits in our work
Often used with
Co-GP, JV & capital partners
Build With Us
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