NEW YORK CITY—Although it has spanned the compass of propertytypes since its founding in 1983, O'Connor Capital Partners startedout as a retail specialist and remains bullish on the sector amid aspate of negative prognostications on the future ofbrick-and-mortar stores. The company recently completed its secondjoint venture with mall REIT Washington Prime Group on ownership ofseven open-air properties valued at $600 million. It recently begandevelopment of Vineland Pointe, a 450,000-square-foot regionalpower and lifestyle center in Orlando, in a JV with LaSalleInvestment Management, and acquired the Shops at Canal Place, a260,000-square-foot shopping and entertainment destination in NewOrleans. At present it has about 28 million square feet of retailspace under management.

GlobeSt.com caught up with John O'Connor, SVP and head ofacquisitions with O'Connor Capital, for insights into the outlookfor retail and what his firm seeks out when investing or developingin the sector.