In commercial real estate, what does GLA measure in a shopping center or building?

In commercial real estate, GLA measures the gross leasable area of a shopping center or building.

Gross leasable area is the amount of floor space available for leasing to tenants. In a retail property, it generally includes the areas occupied by stores and other tenants, measured according to industry and local measurement conventions. It is a central figure in evaluating a shopping center’s scale, tenant capacity, rents, and operating performance.

GLA is not simply the same as a building’s total floor area. Shared corridors, service spaces, mechanical rooms, structural areas, and other non-leasable parts may be excluded or treated differently. The precise calculation can depend on the property type and the measurement standard being used.

Another common mix-up is confusing GLA with net leasable area. Those terms may be used similarly in some contexts, but professional reports can distinguish them according to the applicable standard. GLA also differs from gross floor area, which describes a broader measurement of constructed space rather than only the area intended for tenant leasing.