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Archive for the ‘Conference Coverage’ Category
Heard on the Floor II
More tidbits gathered at the ICSC National Conference and Dealmaking.
- Is the end in sight for the The Mills Corp. saga? The company reached an agreement with Gazit-Globe Ltd., an Israeli-based outfit headed by former Equity One CEO Chaim Katzman, to nominate a slate of four nominees for election to Mills’ board at its annual meeting, which will be held December 29. The slate will include two new independent directors originally proposed by Gazit, Read the rest of this entry »
Heard on the Floor
The real action at the ICSC New York National Conference & Dealmaking kicked off today as the exhibitors’ hall opened and more than 8,000 attendees flooded the Hilton New York & Towers in Midtown Manhattan.
The show is more crowded than ever, making it near impossible to get around, especially if your appointments are at booths spread too far apart in the maze-like exhibition space.
It seems that each year, the New York show more and more resembles the madness of the Spring Convention in Las Vegas. There has been lots of grumbling about late appointments as people have tried in vain to rush from one end of the conference to the other. Making it even more challenging this year is the addition of spillover exhibition space down the street at the Sheraton New York Ballroom West. So in addition to fighting crowds at the Hilton, you’ve got to brave the cold and walk down the street to get that last appointment done.
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Debating the Meaning of Mixed-Use
An afternoon session at the ICSC New York National Conference and Dealmaking debated the meaning of mixed-use, with the panel coming in favor of a strict definition of the concept. The panel came down hard, arguing that mixed-use must be vertical and have at least three uses that must be integrated and leverage off of each other. Anything less may be “multi-use” but falls short of being a true mixed-use project, panelists argued.
Kenneth Narva, principal and managing partner with PEG/Park LLC and Street Works LLC laid out five rules for developing mixed-use projects, which are paraphrased here:
1. Mixed-use has to be local. It can’t be a concept that can be replicated anywhere. It must build off the local community and history and maintain the flavor of the surrounding architecture.
2. Mixed-use should be driven by retail. It needs to have other uses, but retail—including restaurants and entertainment—must be the prime traffic generator.
Watching Trends at the New York ICSC
The New York National Conference and Deal Making kicked off this morning with a lively opening panel on trends impacting the industry. A big part of the discussion centered on the continuing wave of retailer privatizations and the effect they are having on the way shopping center owners and developers are doing business.—perhaps even more than many people had anticipated.
Owners involved in these deals say they aren’t just about real estate and are insisting they are in it to operate retailers and help turn around ones that have been suffering. Meanwhile, some panelists expressed reservations about the number buyouts that has occurred and wondered if privatizations are always the answer. Taking stock of how some of the more notable brands have fared—retailers like Kmart, Sears, Lord & Taylor, Toys ‘R’ Us and Mervyn’s—was a major theme.
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