Abby Cox

Florida’s The Villages has a secret: a captive, high-income population that dines and shops at the area’s more than 20 retail centers. Many national tenants like to gatekeep great locations. For years, The Villages has been one of those. The master-planned, age-restricted community located in Central Florida is somewhat of an enigma to those who haven’t been. But visiting is eye-opening, and many national tenants have discovered a secret this utopia is hiding — an incredibly active and vibrant population with strong retail sales within the community’s 7.5 million square …

Narrowing cap rate spreads between grocery-anchored and power centers, combined with resilient tenant demand, are pushing more private investors into large-format retail. For years, junior box-anchored shopping centers were primarily acquired by public REITs and other institutional investors. With transaction sizes often ranging from $20 million to $100 million, these assets were considered out of reach for most private buyers. That dynamic has shifted. A broader pool of private investors is now competing for these centers, reshaping the buyer landscape and creating new liquidity opportunities for owners and developers. This …

Financing, subcontractors, materials pricing and tariffs have had an impact on retail construction. Contractors are leveraging AI and other new technologies to reduce risk and harness data. Let’s get down to brass tacks: there’s not a lot of new retail space being built. What is getting developed reflects a fundamental shift in how retail functions. At the same time, construction itself is becoming more strategic and tech enabled. Developers and contractors are leveraging data, artificial intelligence (AI) and flexible design approaches to better predict demand, reduce risk and adapt spaces …