News
Bisnow Retail Summit
October 26, 2010
| This morning, we were honored to celebrate Bisnow DFW's first anniversary with 300 of you at the Westin Galleria. It's traditionally the paper anniversary, so we chose to host a Retail Summit so we could learn what it will take to get cash changing hands again. | |
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| After multiple cups of coffee, we bounced over to snap a pic of our first panel, Weingarten Realty central region VP/director Gerald Crump, The Retail Connection Connected Development Services president David Wilson, and Regency Centers managing director John Delatour, who says new development opportunities are few, and those that do exist tend to be infill. Greenfield development is completely dead. (Appropriate for Halloween.) "Making investments in our assets and upgrading shopping centers is getting us yields north of 10% in the existing portfolio," John says. Because the acquisition market is highly competitive, John adds that relationships with brokers and families that own projects have been the source of most acquisitions. Regency has one deal in Chicago and plans to buy two more there through that type of relationship. | |
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| John says Regency inked 1.5M SF in new leases this year, which is near historical highs, but net absorption will be about 0%. He says the company isn't immune from the bad economy, even though grocery-anchored centers are faring better. For now, it's been busy retrofitting its (empty) anchor boxes, splitting a former Steinmart into four spaces with tenant demand for it: "Because Steinmart paid such low rent, this has been good for us.” David says TRC has had similar experiences with emptied Shoe Carnival and Circuit City spaces by breaking them up and leasing to Party City, Half-Price Books, Kirkland’s, and David’s Bridal. | |
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| UCR Realty COO Jean Smith, Quadrant Realty Finance partner Jason Piering, and The Weitman Group managing director Robert Young III look on as moderator William Wilshusen of Haynes and Boone asks about the newer formats for stores like J.C. Penney and Target. Jean says the City Target format can go as small at 60k SF(compared to 185k SF Super Targets). “I don’t know that you’ll see any more Super Targets," he adds. They’ll stick with 135k SF stores on 10-12 acres, and the City Target could go on four to five acres, perhaps multilevel. | |
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| Before taking the stage, we found Bob with Jackson Walker's Leonard Hoffman III. The pair go way back, including college at Southwestern. Bob says all merchants are looking at new formats. One retailer, Forever 21, typically occupies 7k-8k SF spaces, but it took a 20k SF space in San Antonio because there is demand and it could do the business. The key is flexibility to make use of existing real estate, he says. Bob says TWG has a to-be-announced project “out north” with a great corner and neighbors on a big anchor deal with nine pads to complement it. Don't look for any spec, he says, because there's still too much shop space overhanging in the market. | |
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| CMA's Lesley Leahy, Joie Wilder, Adrienne McClure, and Randy Stringer. Providing architectural, planning, and interior design nationwide, Joie tells us the firm has been doing more renovation projects because funding is easier for companies to attain for remodeling. Additionally, remodels are resulting from companies rebranding. She tells us about 70% of the firm’s work focuses on retail projects. Among its clients: Michael’s, Best Buy, and Starbucks. We could spend an afternoon with that trio. | |
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| The City of Richardson assistant city manager David Morgan and mayor pro tem Bob Townsend with Executive Security biz dev guru George Simons. Bob chairs the city's retail committee but kept mum on projects in the works. David says there are some Class A office deals "with prospects." | |
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| Driving across the Trinity from Cowtown to the Big D, Hexter-Fair Title Co. VP Norma Crow and Bradford Cos.’ Brenda Kindt joined up with Palladium Sales and Marketing’s Kay Overton and Venture Commercial’s Tonya Hagood. Norma tells us that she’s seeing lots of multifamily and medical projects closing in Fort Worth. | |
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| The Colony Economic Development Corp director Keri Samford and specialist Cindi Lane tell us that with traffic counts exceeding 104,000 vehicles every day on State Hwy. 121, The Colony is hopping. Most recently, six leases were inked in The Cascades at the Colony. (If you need a refresher, The Colony is a 100-acre, master-planned mixture of residential, flex, office, retail, and hospitality). Located between the North Dallas Tollway and I-35, and at a major intersection of the newly improved Hwy. 121 Tollway, Keri says one of the best features is the easy access to DFW Airport. | |
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| These lucky guys were our prize drawing winners. UCR associate Tey Tiner, Old Republic Title VP Charlie Badgett, and City of Richland Hills economic development specialist Matt Shaffstall will receive (respectively) an Oceanaire gift certificate, a night at the Westin Galleria and breakfast for two, and a Grand Lux gift certificate. Who knew being informed could be so rewarding? We hope to see you here at the next event. Stay tuned to your inbox as we promise even more Retail Summit insights in coming issues. We love it when we have so much news we run out of space. | |
