Going to Extremes with Retail Property Investment

As part of our coverage leading up to ICSC, Donald MacLellan, Senior Managing Partner, Faris Lee Investments, gives us his insider perspective for this edition of Counter Culture. Join Faris Lee at ICSC RECon booth number C150M in Las Vegas May 18–20.

Over the course of a three-decade career in commercial real estate, I’ve found that one theme is timeless: retail property investment can be successful in any sub-category of the sector if one looks carefully and wisely at the fundamentals of the asset. From regional malls to neighborhood strip centers; from stabilized core assets to value-add redevelopment plays, I have clients who have done well with every type of product. Ultimately it goes back to the golden and most basic rule of retail investment: location, location, location. There is no replacement for population density and strong traffic counts within stable and growing economic trade areas throughout the U.S.