In commercial real estate what does it mean to be anchored?

Answer 1

Typically that means the key tenant in a shopping center or building, that sets the tone for other businesses. For many years, a grocery store would be the anchor tenant in a shopping center, and the rest of the stores tended to be smaller and could be just about anything that people in the area might also need. In an office building it could be a major law firm, and that might attract other law firms.

In retail settings, the anchor can also dictate a lot of things: it usually gets a very preferential rent because it is the "draw" to the center, it often has "exclusives" meaning that it has the sole right to sell certain products, which can limit the other kinds of stores that can be in the center. Larger malls tend to be "multi-anchored" meaning you'll have 2, 3, 4 or more key stores and key locations (each end of the mall for example) and al the rest of the stores are in between. Also, anchors tend to decide where they want to be on a property; sometimes this is referred to as an "end cap" since it may have 2 or more exposures where as the in-between stores may only have their "storefront" and therefore a bit less visible. Anchors usually also take a prominent place on any shopping center sign. In office buildings like "Sears Tower" (now "Willis Tower") the building is named for the anchor tenant and this is often a perq that the building pays for. Sometimes the anchor has an ownership interest in the building. When you're an anchor, many things can happen.

Any property that is just a bunch of stores or a bunch of offices with no particular one as the "draw" is not anchored.