IPhones Responsible for REIT Malls’ Record Numbers, Says GGP
Hey, online shopping, upscale malls aren’t going anywhere thanks to tech tenants like Apple, Microsoft and Telsa, the Wall Street Journal reports. Upward trending mall sales hit $478/SF last year, according to ICSC, while REIT malls (more luxury and urban infill) reached a record $550/SF in sales in Q3 of 2014, well over the last high, $450/SF, in 2007 (Green Street Advisors' data). For mega-landlord GGP, last September’s iPhone 6 unveiling spurred a 6.8% increase in monthly sales that would have been only 4% otherwise, CEO Sandeep Mathrani has said.
In addition to being early adopters of entertainment as part of the mall shopping experience, tech tenants help the bottom line with their pricey wares and profit-sharing lease structures (something you don’t see with anchors). They’ve also paid dividends, literally, as shopping center REITs returned 35% in 2014 to investors (in third place behind multifamily and healthcare), NAREIT data shows.
