MIAMI—The shopping center space remains awashin unallocated capital, and there are relatively few high qualityproperties on the market as the REITs, pensionfunds, and private investors have become much more focused onobtaining and holding higher quality assets. So says ShaneGarrison, executive vice president, COO andCIO of Retail Properties of America(RPAI).

RPAI is a REIT that describes itself as one of the largestowners and operators of high quality, strategically locatedshopping centers in the US. The company owns 224retail operating properties spanning 31.8 millionsquare feet.

In an exclusive interview, we asked him about the state ofretail real estate. He told gave us hisperspective on the market—and how RPAI is reacting to the market.For example, as Garrison sees it the general lack of high qualityretail properties for acquisition has pushedinvestors to secondary and tertiary markets in a quest to placecapital. But that's just where the retail storybegins.