News
IC RETAIL POSITIVITY
December 8, 2009
| Noticeably absent from this year’s ICSC New York National conference at the Hilton and Sheraton NY—shellshock that plagued last year’s attendees. (Maybe it stayed at the Marriott, instead). |
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| The conference kicked off with a panel starring Ackman-Ziff’s Simon Ziff, Morgan Stanley’s Gregory Melich, Centro Properties’s Glenn Rufrano, and DLC Management’s Adam Ifshin. Glenn says we can’t compare this market to the past, since the downturn’s not through, but we’ll create enough capital for market equilibrium by ’11. There’s been a huge uptick in deals the past 60 days, with multiple lenders interested in a deal, Simon adds—which wasn’t so six months ago. Retailers need to focus on competition from online sellers, obsolete real estate, and inventory, but we should see more positivity by 2Q, the panelists say. |
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| During lunch, Cadillac Fairview Corp CEO Peter Sharpe offered findings from ICSC’s ’09 Shopping Habits Report. The worst may well be over, he says, and retail will come back stronger than ever. September and October saw growth, while holiday sales are predicted to increase 1% year-over-year (thank all those Zhu Zhu Pet buyers). More people think their financial situations will improve rather than get worse; expect an increase in fast fashion, upscale groceries, and large-format restaurants. Development will also take a backseat to value enhancement. A keynote by Pershing Square Capital Management founder William Ackman followed. |
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| The exhibitors were busy, yet we were quickly able to snap Grubb & Ellis’ Paul Stanislas, Henry Goldfarb, Robert Kunikoff, Mark Baziak, Branson Edwards, and Stan Lindenfeld in between deal making. Henry and Stan are marketing properties with significant signage opportunities—7k-SF ground floor and 6k-SF basement space at 130 Delancey St., with 75’ of 7’-tall signage on Delancey and 100’ on Norfolk. Prefer to see your name in lights? There’s 8.7k SF available at 1607 Broadway under the Crowne Plaza, including 125’ of ticker signage on Broadway and 100’ on W. 49th. Or, you can get a leading role in a musical. Your call. |
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| With Golden Arches on every street, we were surprised to hear Subway is on track to beat McDonald’s worldwide store count by January, according to Subway’s Joseph Allegretti, Wayland Benbow, Paul Landino Jr., and Daniel Dichiara. Besides its temporary store on top of the World Trade Center crane, the chain just completed a deal to put 23 more along Connecticut’s highways, its first venture into the rest stop arena. For you java nuts, it’s also rolling out Seattle’s Best Coffee in all its stores come spring. |
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| There are plenty of retailers looking to discover opportunities in Manhattan, says Newmark Knight Retail’s Jeffrey Roseman (second from left, with colleagues Gregg Gropper, Benjamin Birnbaum,Kenneth Hochhauser, and Jason Maurer). On the landlord rep side, he says that spaces the firm is marketing in Times Square and Fifth Avenue are seeing plenty of traffic, while clients like Chipotle and Pret A Manger are expanding. He notes that this year’s conference is much more vibrant—the people he met now want to move forward and rebuild. |
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| Or was that vibrancy just caffeine? Dunkin’ Donuts is completing 58 stores by the end of ’09 and plans a 10% increase in ’10 for all stores, from the 250-SF gas station component to the 2k-SF freestanding, says the chain’s Richard Zuromski (right, with colleagues Lou Bechtold, Maureen DiStefano, Rita Fraser, and Denise Nuzzolo). Also watch out for an aggressive remodeling of all of its area stores over the next three years. For the record, Richard’s favorite donut is the powdered jelly. |
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| Winick Realty Group’s Oren Erlich, Alexander Hill, Benjamin Fox, and Bob Weber. Oren recently closed on a 25k-SF Best Yet supermarket at 2195 Frederick Douglass Blvd., home to the SoHa 118 (for those not up on neighborhood acronyms, that’s So uth Ha rlem) residential development. Bob and colleague Lou Novick recently repped Dollar General in a 10-year, 9.6k-SF lease at 2101 Kennedy Blvd. in Union City, NJ. Or should we call it UnCi? |
