As part of our coverage leading up to ICSC, DonaldMacLellan, Senior Managing Partner, Faris Lee Investments,gives us his insider perspective for this edition of CounterCulture. Join Faris Lee at ICSC RECon booth number C150M in LasVegas May 18–20.

Over the course of a three-decade career in commercial realestate, I've found that one theme is timeless: retail propertyinvestment can be successful in any sub-category of the sector ifone looks carefully and wisely at the fundamentals of the asset.From regional malls to neighborhood strip centers; from stabilizedcore assets to value-add redevelopment plays, I have clients whohave done well with every type of product. Ultimately it goes backto the golden and most basic rule of retail investment: location,location, location. There is no replacement for population densityand strong traffic counts within stable and growing economic tradeareas throughout the U.S.

Recently I have seen high investor demand for retail propertiesthat are on the opposite ends of the product spectrum—and thatcould arguably reflect the state of the economy in general—as theyfall into two categories 1) legacy and 2) value.