Shopping Centers Today

APR 2017

Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)

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Teekay caption operates primarily in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, though in the fourth quarter the company opened its first restaurants in the Di A P R I L 2 0 1 7 / S C T 51 1 million square feet of space, primarily in central Indiana. This represents some healthy growth since 2015, when the company had just one broker and one property manager, ac- cording to Christopher V. McCrea, the company's president. McCrea Property Group also manages properties in Evans- ville, Ind., in Cincinnati, and in Richmond, Ky., and is in- volved with single-tenant, triple-net-lease properties in those and nearby states. "We would like to meet with tenants who could be a good fit in one of our shopping centers," said Mc- Crea, "as well as identify and meet with investors in our mar- ket that might have a need for an experienced leasing and management team." Meanwhile, Princeton, N.J.–based Rex is here to bring its global real estate deal platform to the brokerage community, according to Stephen King, a principal and co-founder. Rex, a startup that closed on its second round of funding last fall, is out to develop a business enabling users to avoid the fees associated with traditional listing services and that employs blockchain technology to create a faster, more cost-effective closing process. Rex also plans to give users the chance to own properties much the way individuals can buy REITs. In- stead of dollars, however, these transactions will trade in "Rex tokens" — a global digital currency that can be exchanged for physical money. According to company literature, Rex will sell its tokens in July. The firm is asserting that this technology will transform the property industry in the same way that Amazon.com, Netflix and Uber have been able to do in their respective industries. New York City–based VTS is another provider of high-tech for the real estate industry. Founded five years ago to provide a leasing and asset management platform, VTS says it enables owners and brokers to boost revenue, mitigate risk and drive efficiencies across the portfolio. Its technology helps com- panies manage some 5.5 billion square feet of properties worldwide. "VTS gives commercial real estate landlords and brokers a central platform to create leads, convert deals, opti- mize space decisions, retain tenants and drive portfolio per- formance," said co-founder and CEO Nick Romito. "For retail real estate professionals, we take this a step further by provid- ing retail-specific site plans, tenant sales tracking capabilities and more. With the incredible pace of change currently seen in the retail industry sector, RECon gives us an unparalleled opportunity to connect with retail landlords and brokers, en- suring VTS is continually providing solutions that specifically cater to the nuanced needs of the retail community." n president. The rise of experiential retail makes certain situa- tions more likely now than in the past: that a raucous fitness center, say, may lease space right next to a spa that specializes in tranquility. Ideally, such a problem is addressed early on in the development and leasing process, but the ideal is not always the case. "Over the past four years, I've been involved in a good 200 situations that needed to be resolved after the fact," Saathoff said. "But it's very difficult to do at that point, for the leasing agents, property owners and tenants." Another newcomer this year, Indianapolis-based McCrea Property Group, provides third-party property manage- ment for some 60 retail properties, amounting to roughly

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