At the ICSC LAS VEGAS 2024 conference, Nellie Day from Retail Insight spoke with Nate Tower, president and founder of Broad Reach Retail Partners, to explore the evolving landscape of retail and upcoming trends in the space. Broad Reach Retail Partners focuses on revitalizing underperforming shopping centers via a holistic, full-cycle approach that considers leasing, management, construction and acquisition. Tower emphasizes the importance of assessing a matrix of key performance indicators (KPIs) — including capital requirements, tenant mix and market demographics — to develop and execute effective business plans …
Content PartnersFeaturesLeasingMallsMarketingOperationsPower centersRestaurantsRetail InsightRetailersVideos
NewMark Merrill: Harness Retail Data to Improve Customer Experience, Streamline Operations
Sandy Sigal argues that the evolving fields of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) are a perfect fit for retail. “We generate the most relevant data on an everyday basis, and that data affects the outcomes and success of our centers,” explains Sigal. In a discussion on the pivotal role of technology in the retail sector, Sigal emphasizes that understanding customer behavior is paramount for shopping center owners. By leveraging technology to track customer movement and sentiment — where they come from, how long they stay, how they feel about …
At the ICSC LAS VEGAS 2024 conference, Nellie Day of Retail Insight discussed the current investment climate with Shaun Riley, managing principal of Faris Lee Investments. Riley highlights key aspects of the retail environment — discussing interest rates, bid-ask spreads, navigating the market and more. Investor Sentiment and Market Reactions Riley explains that investor sentiment is significantly influenced by interest rates. After two decades of low rates, recent hikes have led to a cautious approach among investors. “A lot of [investors] are waiting out until they see the returns …
DevelopmentEconomic DevelopmentEntertainmentFeaturesLearn from Industry LeadersMixed-useRestaurantsRetail InsightRetailersVideos
Moreno Valley: Hub for Growth and Opportunity
Located in Southern California’s Inland Empire, Moreno Valley has emerged as a significant growth center and a friendly home to retail. As highlighted by Melissa McClain, head of marketing & business attraction for the city, the area’s robust development is driven by substantial job creation and strategic planning. “Truly the catalyst for the growth in Moreno Valley has been jobs. We’ve created more than 34,000 jobs in the last eleven years. And because of that, we now have more than 7,700 single-family and multifamily residential units that are either …
Content PartnersFeaturesIndustry ContentLeasingMallsMarketingOperationsPower centersRetail InsightRetailers
NewMark Merrill: AI, Automation Will Benefit In-Person Retail
Automation is not only here to stay — it’s here to make the tasks of owning, operating, marketing and leasing a shopping center easier. That is the view of Sandy Sigal, chairman, CEO and president of Calabasas, Calif.-based NewMark Merrill Companies. “I see automation as a net positive,” he explains. “The efficiency level inside shopping centers is going to go way up. Customer satisfaction levels are going to go way up too.” Sigal envisions a future where personalization, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), transforms the shopping experience, offering tailored recommendations and …
The property offers shopping as an experience, with a sense of place. The 25th anniversary of Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio, provides an excellent opportunity to share best practices in authentic placemaking and experience-creating at a mixed-use development totaling more than 1.7 million square feet. It also allows a candid glimpse into the future, gleaned from operating a leading Midwest destination with more than 30 million annual visitors per year. One of the keys to success is always looking forward. In the 1950s and 1960s, malls grew because people …
The complex projects encompass many moving parts and players. Keeping them all on the same page is crucial to success. If the whole mall redevelopment thing doesn’t work out, you can always become a marriage counselor. Perhaps some additional training and education would be needed for such a career transition to actually take place. But mall and shopping center owners who undertake high-risk redevelopments undoubtedly have firsthand appreciation of the importance of providing clear and courteous communication to the many different groups they deal with, from municipal leaders to longstanding …
No matter the economic climate, the formula for creating value in properties will always be a retail property owner’s best friend. That’s why Broad Reach Retail Partners uses a multi-faceted approach that includes data-driven key performance indicators (KPIs) to drive their plans of action, strategic redevelopment and ongoing budget updates that optimize net operating income (NOI). “Through focused management, leasing and discipline, we create value, and we are able to return those dividends to our partners, properties and people,” says COO Mike Castellitto. “We have seen time and time again …
Content PartnersFaris Lee InvestmentsFeaturesFinanceIndustry ContentInvestment salesRetail InsightRetailers
Faris Lee: Sales Success Strategies in a Challenging Market
Don MacLellan, managing principal at Faris Lee Investments in Irvine, Calif., knows it’s a challenging market. “Deal volume is off 40-60 percent from two years ago,” he says. “Back then, there was so much deal momentum because demand was so much higher than supply. Now, it’s the opposite, and due to lower transaction volume, 1031 demand is off significantly. So, the question becomes, how do you create strong demand with fewer 1031 exchange requirements?” It’s a question MacLellan and his fellow Faris Lee managing principals Jeff Conover and Shaun Riley …
Though construction headwinds persist, the potential of mixed-use projects motivates many developers to keep going. Some of today’s most successful projects can be described as a melting pot of sorts. That’s because they internalize the three Fs: flexible, financeable and functional — or, should we say, multi-functional. “Mixed-use concepts, in particular, seem to be the 401(k) of real estate development,” says Matt Silvers, vice president of Project Management Advisors in Austin, Texas. “They provide a bit of everything for everyone, including investors, and the mix of uses nicely hedges market …