ICSC Mid-Atlantic Conference: 'We're Back!'
Posted February 22, 2012
We Recommend...
By Larry Lichtenauer
When asked to describe the mood on the floor of this week's ICSC Mid-Atlantic Conference and Deal-making session, retail brokers, developers, tenant representatives, service providers and even students enrolled in post-graduate real estate curriculum amazingly shared similar sentiments.
"Activity is dramatically picking up and people are upbeat," was the general consensus of the nearly 2,000 attendees at the show.
Quick disclaimer: real estate brokerage professionals are among the most glass-half-full optimists that exist in the business world, so their views of the economic climate sometimes needs to be placed in the proper perspective. "Things are great!" is a common answer to "how is it going?"
However, given the overwhelmingly positive attitude exhibited at the two-day conference, we are actually going to believe them this time.
The two-day event wrapped up Wednesday at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center Hotel within the National Harbor project overlooking Washington, D.C. Here are specific observations to back up the claims:
Bill Holzman, St. John Properties, Inc.
"We are now seeing a sense of urgency among tenants, as opposed to past conferences where negotiations tended to be elongated and sometimes never progressed," explained the Assistant Vice President of Retail Leasing for the Baltimore-based development company. "The food category, in particular is bubbling up with restaurants such as McDonald's, Starbucks Coffee, Potbelly Sandwich Shop and Cracker Barrel showing strong interest in the marketplace. The real estate committees are not over-analyzing deals - now they are making them. People were smiling more at this show and the mood is extremely encouraging."
Dixon Harvey, Black Oak Associates
"Activity in the fourth quarter of 2011 started to accelerate and this momentum has continued into 2012," the Partner at the Owings Mills, MD-based developer stated. "Smaller-sized stores - including concepts just below the anchor category - are leading the charge. Although our company has completed three shopping center acquisitions in the past year, this activity has diminished of late, due to the lack of available quantity. There still exists a gap in the perception of pricing between buyers and sellers and overall value. I sense the feeling that the industry is confident in the direction of the economy, and this is fueling the activity everyone is currently experiencing."
Patrick Miller, KLNB Retail
"A real estate developer walked up to me yesterday - with his hands flailing - and excitably said ‘we're back!' I told him that things will never return to the old go-go days - we were all drunk back then," said the Principal of the full-service real estate brokerage firm. "But the industry is not detecting the boogey man in the closet anymore. They don't see warning signs up ahead and there is great consumer confidence. On the tenant side, stores continue to view the Baltimore-Washington region as completely different from the balance of the country. ‘You have a great gig going here,' is how someone explained our situation to me. Real estate executive have received the directive from top executives that the valve is open and quality expansion can move forward. It's a great feeling.
Taylor Jones, Jersey Mike's
Retailer exhibitors are always few and far between at these deal-making conferences, but fast-casual restaurant concept Jersey Mike's - based in Manasquan (you know the state) was a notable exception. The concept is actively searching for 1200-1800 square foot sites throughout Virginia and Maryland - specifically Alexandria, Prince William, Howard and Prince George's Counties - to add to its roster of 540 stores across 31 states.
"We are the Chipotle of the submarine sandwich industry," explained Taylor Jones. "We put on a show for our customers by slicing meat in front of their eyes, and grilling custom-made cheese steaks. High-visibility locations, preferably on pad sites, are what we are searching for," he said.
Inga Beerman, Colvin Institute at University of Maryland - student
"I listened to a speaker yesterday who explained that the industry was extremely optimistic a year ago, and things didn't pan out. Now, they are optimistic again. My advice is to temper your expectations," described the second-year graduate student. (what ever happened to the wild-eyed exuberance of youth?) After graduating with an architectural degree, Inga hopes to form a real estate development company so she can build things. "The economy is getter better and I can feel the energy at this show," she explained. Now you're talking.
Bob Pollokoff, The Fedder Company
"We recently lost a Toys R Us store within one of our shopping centers, but replaced it with a Lotte International Markets," the President of the development and management company said. "This is indicative of the activity we are experiencing. New retailers are showing up at this conference. Value-oriented tenants such as Dollar Tree, Dollar General and Big Lots are aggressively making deals. Executives still view the Baltimore-Washington region as the place to be."
Fred Wine, Quantum Properties
"The Mom and Pop category still has not returned because this category has difficulty finding proper financing," the CEO and President explained. "But, the real estate cycle seems to have worked itself out and activity is returning to normalcy. There is extremely positive energy in our marketplace and people are less nervous about the future."
For those searching for signs or metaphoric references, the temperatures outside were approaching 60 degrees in Washington, D.C., among the warmest in recent memory for a late February. The sky was practically cloudless. Yes, things seem to be heating up and brightening.
Larry Lichtenauer is president and founder of Lawrence Howard & Associates, Inc. a full-service marketing and public relations agency servicing the commercial and retail real estate industries.
blog comments powered by