There's been plenty written about the state of the Southeastretail market, but it can't be described in general terms.Southeast retail has to be viewed as a region characterized bydiverse micro-markets, each with its own set of uniquecharacteristics and distinctive elements with varying abilities toweather the recession and rebound.

Miami has long been a favorite for commercial real estateinvestors and an especially vibrant retail leasing market. By 2008,the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the corresponding decline in homevalues began to impact the Miami housing market. That led to adecline in retail market rents and occupancy rates, as well as arelated diminished interest in investment. Today, new developmentsare already in the works and pricing for core institutional retailassets is at or near record levels. Other Florida markets,especially Orlando, are also experiencing recovery consistent withthe rebound of tourism and travel and, as such, are seeingimprovement in retail occupancy.

Nashville experienced only a minimal dip during the recession.The healthcare, education, state government and music entertainmentindustries afforded the city a stable employment base and a shelterfrom the storm. Today, Nashville has almost no vacant anchor boxesand retail vacancy rates have remained very low. Similarly,Louisville and Lexington, KY hardly felt the impact of thedownturn. Most vacant anchor boxes were quickly absorbed byexpanding retailers dissatisfied by the lack of quality newdevelopment. Meanwhile, Greenville and Spartanburg, SC recoveredquickly due to the timely success of major employers such as BMW,Fuji, Bosch and others.