Next year, however, retail activity will slow, so owners will beseeking ways to increase their bottom lines with a more creativemix of tenants. That, combined with residents' concern regardingdevelopment expressed in 2000 with the passage of slow-growthinitiatives in some key cities--most notably Newport Beach--willcontribute to limiting construction of new product in 2001. Forwhat will be built, location and product type will differentiatethe market, the report notes.

Infill opportunities will still exist in older, more urban areaslike Garden Grove and Fullerton. Converting existing industrialproduct into retail will add somewhat to retail availability in thecentral, west and north county submarkets.

"There's no more developable tracts of land in Orange County, sothe majority of the focus from now on will be on infill," Brownsays. "All the big deals are done. What's left is going into theolder areas and rehabbing them. Rehabbing to make them competitivewith the new millennium. Only centers that are well placed andmaintained are the ones that are going to benefit because of alower supply of retail."