Landlords seeking to attract top retail tenants increasingly rely on the same tools retailers use to find their ideal store sites: data, analytics and storytelling. Kenneth Hochhauser, executive vice president at full-service real estate brokerage RTL, tells GlobeSt.com that data-driven marketing can turn an ordinary listing into a compelling business case for the right occupier.
“You can put up a for-rent sign and hope someone comes to you,” Hochhauser says.
“A better approach is to use data to build an accurate and representative story for the property and then selectively approach retailers who might find the space of particular interest.”
That story begins with the landlord’s objective—whether it’s securing a high-credit tenant, achieving the best rent or finding a concept that complements existing occupiers.
“The informed choice of who will occupy is not only the one who satisfies the goals and objectives but the most viable,” he explained. “Some landlords are very smart at recruiting into their properties. Then there’s a whole world of others that hire brokers.”
To stand out in competitive retail markets like Manhattan, Hochhauser says landlords need to uncover property traits that appeal to specific retailers.
“Sometimes we provide those ah-ha moments,” he notes, pointing to RTL’s work marketing 114 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District. Through analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and the Department of Labor, the firm discovered that the Flatiron workforce has the highest concentration of Gen Z workers in the United States.
“That kind of material piece of information,” he says, “can focus a retailer on this neighborhood rather than others.”
Not every site will appeal to every retailer—but that’s the point. “Smart marketing always looks for the best target markets,” Hochhauser explains. “It’s about optimizing the process using information to build the case.”
RTL uses three main “information products” to support that process. The first is a thematic map identifying a market trait important to a specific tenant type. The second is a collection of data sets for the property, what Hochhauser calls a “compendium of traits combined with market drivers” that demonstrate a location’s potential. The third, and perhaps most persuasive, is a “data story”—a narrative built from empirical evidence that proves the business rationale.
For 1251 Sixth Avenue, a prominent Midtown property, RTL used that approach to target automobile manufacturers.
“We analyzed locational data, plotted it across the U.S., and mapped dealerships for each manufacturer,” Hochhauser explains.
“It proved empirically that people who visited the 1251 trade area lived within a few miles of a dealership.” The finding gave automakers a clear reason to engage with the space. “From this location, traffic is increasing, and it’s cheaper to create traffic through here than through traditional media or social network advertising,” he says.
Ultimately, even the most advanced property analytics circle back to one goal: understanding consumers. “That’s what we’re trying to understand—something more representative of consumer psychology,” Hochhauser concludes.
“There are a lot of variables that go into a purchase. It’s about understanding money—how it’s spent, where it goes, where it comes from. It has personality, it has traits. I can’t get into the mind of the consumer, but I can find the dollar.”
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