Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
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THE COMMON AREA Christopher Conlon, execu- tive vice president and COO of Acadia Realty Trust. The fundamental changes occur- ring in the segment are simply extensions of problems the industry was beginning to suf- fer before the recession, said Robert Breslau, president of real estate investment for Stiles Corp., of Fort Lauder- dale, Fla. Beth Azor, president of Fort Lauderdale–based Azor Advisory Services, says she believes there are remedies for many of the vacancies, some of which are in elbow spaces or other hard-to-lease locations that require cre- ative thought. One solution would be to move some non- retail tenants into those spaces to clear the prime end caps for national retail- ers and restaurants, she said. Azor's firm helped one local tenant expand from just one small deli to nine through- out the area. Encouraging well-vetted small tenants can create traffic generators that eventually help lure national tenants that may previously have been ambiguous about a center, she said. Some of the solutions proposed were more radi- cal. Breslau said that in one case his firm resorted to tearing down a vacant 10,000-square-foot center to make way for a bank pad. But Conlon insisted that consolidation and recasting 8 SCT / APRIL 2012 of some spaces is a more vi- able strategy. Pappagallo noted that yo- gurt shops, specialty retailers and dollar stores are stepping into the breach in many cases, while Azor said she is actively pursuing growth businesses, such as health and beauty shops, fitness centers, spas and orthopedic operations, or niche retailers like soccer-supply and dance- wear stores. "Uses involving children's activities seem to be growing and doing well," she said. Conlon said the De- partment of Motor Vehicles draws big traffic as an anchor of one of Acadia's centers. ''Encouraging well- '' vetted small tenants can create traffic generators that eventually help lure national tenants that may previously have been ambiguous about a center. Co-tenants are discovering that even dialysis centers, once considered a negative use, draw patients who have to be driven to the center by someone who typically shops or eats nearby. Azor said she has hired recent college grads to can- vass the neighborhood for tenants. "You have to recruit people who will knock on doors," she said. "You have to build your bench. It will pay off in the long run with fresh new talent." More Americans saving tax returns Some two-thirds of the respondents to a National Retail Federation survey said they expect a tax refund this year, the same percentage as last year. But of those, the number who said they would be saving some portion of the money was 43.8 percent, up from the 42 percent of respondents who said so last year. Nearly 30 percent of the respondents said they plan to put the money toward everyday expenses, about 12 percent said they would use it to make a major purchase such as a car or a TV, and about 11 percent said they have their heart set on a vacation. Last year NYC drew more investors than any global city New York City is the world's largest commercial property investment target, despite political uncertainty and tur- bulence in the global mar- kets, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The city's commercial real estate sector led the world last year, with $35.7 billion in property investments, handily beating London's $29.2 billion and Tokyo's $22.6 billion, says the firm. Investor sentiment was mixed through much of last year, with concerns over the euro-zone crisis counter- ing any positive news about U.S. fundamentals. Late in the year, though, investors began moving moderately up the risk-reward scale, as evidenced by an increase in retail activity in major met- ropolitan areas, according to Greg Vorwaller, Cushman & Wakefield's global head of capital markets. "Con- sistent with what we saw globally, there was a flight- to-quality in the Americas, with investors focusing on best-in-class assets in flag- ship markets," Vorwaller said. Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington benefited from a renewed