"Retail is an important part of mixed-use from an economic pointof view," said Lee H. Wagman, CEO of Santa Monica-based MartinGroup in a session entitled, "Making Retail Successful in aMixed-Use Development," at the ICSC convention here yesterdayafternoon. "It also gives a project character," so the types ofretailers that occupy a project can have a significant impact onits overall image.This kind of format, Wagman noted, is conduciveto a blend of retailers that would not normally come together underone roof.

Mixed-use enables mall mainstays to coexist with typicalopen-air or lifestyle tenants, offering a wide range ofmerchandise.A key component to a successful development is food andentertainment, remarked the panelists. "Restaurants are critical toa mixed-use project," stated Robert Breslau, president of theStiles Retail Group in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. "Most of them are theanchor tenants and drive the sales volume that we need to makeprojects work. They also help to make it a daytime/nighttimedestination."

The growing popularity of mixed-use could be evidenced by theoverflow crowd that attended the session, which was held incollaboration with the National Association of Industrial andOffice Properties.