Despite its recent challenges, retail is now on a promising path of resurgence. A panel discussion at NAIOP’s CRE.Converge, led by Carmen Decker, western region president of Kimco Realty Corp., and Karly Kilroy, vice president of Kite Realty Group, shed light on this transformation. The two experts shared their insights, sparking a sense of optimism and hope for the future of retail.
What’s truly changed is the growing emphasis on interaction and collaboration. “Retail shopping centers have things like multifamily, hotel, hospitality, entertainment,” said Decker, who oversees about 160 shopping centers in Northwest and Southwest portfolios, consisting of about 30 million square feet. “You also have medical and offices,” Kilroy chimed in. She added that retailers play a massive part in directing shopping centers and that she used to ask retailers what they wanted to build. Now, it’s more about being emergent builders, a concept that focuses on what a customer wants and how to make the shopping center a place people want to visit and stay for a day. The increasing importance of customer experience in retail drives this shift in strategy.
One significant change in the retail landscape is the shift in power to the customer, who now steers the industry’s direction. “At Kimco Realty Corp., the way we think about it is that the customer is driving the boat,” Decker said. For example, Kimco Realty Corp. started building green spaces within their shopping centers and recognized that it makes money, but not directly. “You don’t build the green space and immediately start charging for it,” she said. “You build it and do things like have a concert series or even yoga in the park, which might drive people to go shopping, grab a coffee, or see a movie.” That’s a direction that she said has enhanced most of the shopping centers that she oversees.
Utilizing mixed-use developments can better service the community. Decker spoke about Kimco Realty Corp’s just-introduced Signature Series properties, which aim to achieve the highest and best use of real estate, improve communities and create value for stakeholders for years to come. “We haven’t broken ground on projects in the West Coast, but on the East Coast, some of the properties include Florida’s Dania Pointe,” she said of the 102-acre vibrant mixed-use development with nearly one million square feet of shops, restaurants, luxury apartments, hotels, offices and public event space. “We also have Suburban Square in Philadelphia,” a 355,000-square-foot, mixed-use center located on the Philadelphia Main Line.
Featured photo of Dania Pointe courtesy of Kimco Realty Corp.
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