Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/827208
T: +1 646 728 3800 F: +1 732 694 1730 www.icsc.org Publisher PATRICIA NORINS Editor in Chief EDMUND MANDER +1 646 728 3487 EDITORIAL Managing Editor BRANNON BOSWELL +1 646 728 3488 Copy Chief DAVID S. ORTIZ Copy Editor VALERIE DAVID Contributing Editors STEVE BERGSMAN MARÍA BIRD PICÓ JOE GOSE BEN JOHNSON STEVE M c LINDEN ANNA ROBATON JESSE SERWER ADVERTISING & MARKETING MICHAEL BELLI +1 714 313 1942 mbelli@icsc.org SHEILA CHARTON +1 646 728 3545 scharton@icsc.org AMIE LEIBOVITZ +1 773 360 1179 aleibovitz@icsc.org SALLY STEPHENSON +1 847 835 1617 sstephenson@icsc.org Production Manager DAVID STACKHOUSE +1 646 728 3482 dstackhouse@icsc.org ICSC OFFICERS Chair man KENNETH F. BERNSTEIN President and CEO TOM M c GEE Vice Chairman VALERIE RICHARDSON, CRX, CLS Past Chairman ELIZABETH I. HOLLAND Treasurer STEFAN FREIBERG For article reprints, call (866) 879-9144 or contact sales@fostereprints.com S H O P P I N G C E N T E R S T O D A Y SCT (ISSN 0885-9841) is pub lished monthly. VOLUME 38 ISSUE 6 © 2017, International Coun cil of Shop ping Cen - ters, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020- 1099; phone, +1 (646) 728 3800; fax, +1 732 694 1730. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at New York, N.Y., and ad di tion al mailing offices. Sub scrip tions $70 per year; Canada and other foreign $99. Single-copy price $10 (May issue $20). For subscription information call +1 727 784 2000. POST MAS TER: Send address changes to Shopping Cen ters Today, Sawida Worley, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020-1099. Publications mail agreement No. 41482022, return unde- liverable Canadian addresses to PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Richmond Hill ON L4B 4R6. A cause for celebration in our industry is the innovative approach landlords and tenants are taking to changing marketplaces, technology, demographics and consumer tastes. This month's SCT is packed with examples of this. Landlords are enhancing the entertainment offerings of their centers — for example, Simon's new Dining District, at its Roosevelt Mall, in New York — and many are complementing their projects with other uses altogether, adding offices, homes and hotels. Federal Realty, for one, is investing $207 million on the second phase of its Pike & Rose project, in North Bethesda, Md., adding luxury apartments, condominiums, outdoor public spaces and 216,000 square feet of retail. Weingarten has several such mixed-use projects built or in the pipeline, in Washington, D.C., Houston and West Seattle, among other places. European developers also are successfully integrating different uses, several of which were highlighted this past April at our European Conference, in Warsaw, Poland. Projects like these are fueling economies and building communities, providing hubs where people can live, work, enjoy recreation and shop. Through projects like these, our industry is responding to the changing demands of consumers. This vitality in our industry is reflected at RECon, with its increasingly diverse variety of exhibitors. Each year we see innovative new tenants and new technologies designed to make centers more entertaining, convenient and efficient. Municipalities and other public agencies also recognize the importance of RECon, eager as they are to attract developments that will make their communities more vibrant and prosperous. All of this activity does not get the attention it deserve as media often focus more on the challenges facing our industry, and less on the ways we are meeting those challenges. It is worth noting that, for all the news about retail closings, the national retail occupancy rate actually rose slightly last year, to 95 percent by December, according to national commercial real estate research and services firm Franklin Street. Our industry is continuing to evolve to meet new market trends, as owners revitalize and reinvent their properties with new tenants, uses and technology. And that is something to celebrate. Adding value A M E S S A G E F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T Tom McGee ICSC President and CEO