Features

Strong commercial corridors shape the first impression of a neighborhood and anchor local wealth, pride and safety — especially in low- and moderate-income communities. Within many of these corridors, it’s small property owners and small retail tenants doing the daily work of keeping them active. When a store struggles or a building declines, the impact spreads quickly: foot traffic drops, neighboring businesses are affected and the corridor weakens. Such challenges are often attributed to location, lack of capital or broader economic forces. Those factors matter. But in our experience, a …

Coffee has become an increasingly active segment of retail real estate, driven by national brands continuing to expand and a business model built around one of the most consistent consumer behaviors: routine. For developers and landlords, that growth means continued demand for well-positioned sites. For investors, it is creating a pipeline of coffee-occupied properties that can combine quality real estate, established operators and long-term contractual cash flow. What connects the two is important. Many of the fundamentals that make a location attractive to a coffee operator at the beginning of …

Abilene, Texas — Laundry Luv is more than doubling the size of its location at 3202 N. First St. in Abilene, Texas, expanding from 6,240 square feet to a total footprint of 14,405 square feet. For Laundry Luv, however, the expansion is about more than adding square footage. It is an opportunity to create a larger, more welcoming space for customers while expanding the company’s ability to serve and engage with the Abilene community. Laundry Luv has built its business around the idea that a laundromat can serve as a neighborhood …

For years, fitness clubs were often viewed as secondary tenants in the commercial real estate world. They required significant parking, occupied large footprints and lacked the perceived prestige of traditional anchors. But fitness operators have always delivered something valuable: frequent, reliable visits to a property. What’s changed is the perspective, not the role — landlords and developers now recognize that value as a competitive advantage. As traditional retailers have consolidated, downsized or disappeared altogether, shopping center owners have been driven to reconsider what makes an effective anchor. At the same …

When Juanita Huber-Millet opened the first Townhouse salon in London in 2018, she saw an opportunity to bring a consistent, premium experience to a globally fragmented nail salon industry. Today, her vision combines elevated design and customer service with a technology optimized footprint and streamlined operating model built for multi-unit franchise expansion. “I wanted Townhouse to feel different from the very beginning. For me, it was about looking at every detail of the experience and asking how we could do it better. Our clients expect a premium experience at every …

There’s an interesting phenomenon happening in the retail real estate market. While retail fundamentals remain strong — consumers are spending, retailers are expanding and occupancy is at a near historic high in many markets — developers are building very little new retail space. The disconnect is not lack of demand. It is the cost of delivering new product. In the last several years, the economics of ground-up retail development have changed dramatically. The result is a market with strong demand, limited new supply and increasingly aggressive competition for quality space. …