Home » Property Types » Full » Battle of the Titans: Regional Mall REITs Fight for Limited Store Development Possibilities Clash of the Titans: Regional Mall REITs Fight for Limited Outlet Development Opportunities May well 9, 2012 12: 54 PM, Simply by Elaine Misonzhnik, Senior Associate Editor In the fall of 2010 executives with Taubman Centers Incorporation., a Bloomfield Hills, Mich. -based regional mall REIT, began talking about the REIT’s new avenue for growth: outlet centers.
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More Most recent News Taubman had recently completed the conversion of its Superb Lakes Bridging property in Auburn Hills, Mich., the 1. 35-million-sq. -ft. enclosed regional mall, into Great Ponds Crossing Outlets. Taubman could sign up many tenants that had been not present elsewhere in Michigan, which include Bass Expert Shops Outdoor World, Disney Store Wall plug and Rainforest Cafe. Superb Lakes Bridging Outlets was attracting the two local customers and Canadians from across the Detroit Water. As a result, the center’s product sales per sq . ft. umbers rose drastically, company representatives said during earnings calls. The success in Auburn Hills helped convince Taubman’s management to capitalize on additional wall socket center opportunities. Besides, within a market condensed with fortress malls and lifestyle centers, outlet centers represented one of many last opportunities for ground-up construction. Robert S. Taubman, the REIT’s chairman, president and CEO, laid out a target of expanding from five to 12 outlet centers in the course of a ten years. Among the first these kinds of undertakings Taubman pursued was obviously a site in Manvel, The state of texas, near Houston.
The site looked like a good fit for Taubman’s target outlet center product sales level of at least $400 per sq ft. The median home income in Manvel can be $65, 864 a year, more than $15, 500 higher than the median household income pertaining to the state as a whole. In addition , the town’s proximity to Harrisburg would give Taubman access to two million potential shoppers. Taubman’s Texas aspirations, however , did not pan away. Both Tanger Factory Wall socket Centers, a Greensboro, In. C. -based REIT specialists outlet centre development, and Simon Home
Group, the greatest retail landlord in the country in both the regional mall and outlet middle arenas, had laid promises to wall plug center development sites in nearby The state of texas City, merely 22 kilometers away. In accordance to brokers familiar with the market, the greater Houston area could not support two, let alone 3, outlet centers. In June 2011, Claire and Tanger took a decisive step to succeed the market simply by announcing that they would spouse to build a 350, 000-sq. -ft. joint development in Texas Metropolis under Tanger’s brand name. That marked the first partnership development relationship in Tanger’s history.
Finally, the two companies decided to interact on one huge outlet center rather than spend cash fighting one another, says Jordan Rodenas, principal with Rodenas Consulting, a national talking to firm that specializes in shopping centers and malls. Consequently, Taubman gently retreated from the market. In July 2011, while discussing the company’s income for the 2nd quarter, Robert Taubman publicly stated to experts that outlets constitute “a very competitive space. 2 weeks . very competitive world to choose from in advancement generally. ” He reiterated the company’s dedication to investing in outlet centers both in U.
S. and in Asia, yet refused to talk about the Tx project. The Houston l�gende wasn’t the sole time Taubman and Bob came to loggerheads in the outlet space. At the begining of April, Bob and Taubman each given press releases about competing wall plug center projects in Chesterfield, Mo., another market in which trade location demographics manage to dictate that only one outlet development can succeed. About Apr. three or more, Simon says Saks 5th Avenue AWAY 5th consented to anchor its St . John Premium Shops, an outlet center slated to contain at least 350, 000 sq ft. of space. (St.
Louis High grade Outlets is a product of your joint venture among Simon, Woodmont Outlets and EWB Development LLC, most experienced outlet center designers. ) Two days later, Taubman announced that broke surface for Taubman Prestige Stores Chesterfield, a 450, 000-sq. -ft. center. Taubman’s press release noted that it had company commitments by a number of tenants, but would not identify any kind of retailers by simply name. Most likely only one of people two centers will get built in Chesterfield. “We’ve said widely, I think, Simon has said publicly that there is only going to be one job built in St
Louis, ” Robert Taubman said through the firm’s initial quarter earnings call. “We are approach ahead, over a much better site with much better access, far better visibility. , So to us it’s very obvious as to which in turn project will likely be built. ” Most market sources, yet , are placing their money upon Simon due to firm’s size, its existing network of relationships in the outlet centre industry plus the fact that it has already bagged a major tenant. The large local mall players, including Bob, Taubman, Macerich Co. CBL & Co-workers Properties and more, have all built overtures to enter the outlet space. But with limited opportunities intended for development and an existing band of experienced property owners already competitive there, these battles—competing pr campaigns, wars of words and unconventional partnerships— are likely to continue to play out consistently throughout the country. CBL & Associates just lately invested in The Outlet Shoppes in El Gestion (Texas). Previous spring, the two Simon and Tanger declared outlet middle projects inside the town of Halton Slopes, a region of Toronto.
Tanger offers since transferred its task further away and will build it while an outlet addition to Heartland Community Centre, one among Canada’s largest power centers. Simon, at the same time, started structure on the original internet site in Halton Hills in April. And in the Chicago area, Macerich and AWE Talisman have got announced strategies to build a $200 , 000, 000, 528, 000-sq. -ft. wall plug center in Rosemont while Craig Realty Group, a privately held outlet center developer, has goals to develop Chicagoland Outlets for Country Club Hills, a 408, 500-sq. -ft. project.
Bob Property Group declined to comment in this article. Tanger, Taubman, Macerich and Craig Realty Group, meanwhile, would not respond to demands comments. “The problem is—as we observed when developers started to roll out lifestyle centers—that everyone moves after the same markets, ” says Shaun Green, leader of Jeff Green Partners, a Phoenix-based consulting company. “And often the new folks to the outlet industry are going to find that it’s a much harder market to get into once there are interactions that have been set up for numerous years. ” In certain separated instances, uch as the one near Houston, two big developers may well form joint ventures mainly because one of them retains a better web page while the various other wields more power with stores. Such cases, however , will probably be few and far between, relating to Rich Hauer, controlling director of business reorganization, rearrangement, reshuffling services by BDO, a brand new York City-based consulting company. “Let me put it this way: Neither Simon nor Taubman is going to make a second-rate wall plug mall, ” he says. “So if the 1st guy could possibly get Coach and Polo and Saks and some of those brands that every wall plug mall could really like, you’ll see the other dude back down. Mass appeal The causes the outlet sector has all of a sudden become overloaded are easy to search for. During the downturn, outlet centre sales went up while shopping center sales chop down or remained flat mainly because shoppers were suddenly drawn to outlets’ worth proposition. In addition, as these centers moved closer to urban areas and proved they can work in close proximity to regional malls, the number of markets that could support new assignments increased. With limited opportunity for growth in other places, regional nearby mall REITs started to focus on the outlet sector.
Real estate owners that are looking for to gain business in a new property segment typically have two avenues to get growth: either through acquisition of multiple assets or another operating company or even though development. But when Simon bought Prime Retailers Inc. this year it purchased the last big privately-held wall socket center operator in the market. Today, “no non-public guy settings 20 or 30th centers which can be sold, ” says Gerard Mason, exec managing overseer with Savills LLC. In addition, there is a endemic on produces between advancement and expenditure.
For instance, CBL & Associates, a Chattanooga, Tenn. -based REIT, lately invested much more than $108 , 000, 000 to provide loans for two wall plug centers developed by Horizon Group Properties, a Rosemont, Unwell. -based wall plug center creator. (CBL in addition has partnered with Horizon in groundup jobs in Oklahoma City and Woodstock, Ga. ) But CBL CEO Sophie Lebovitz confesses that expansion projects give double-digit comes back while purchasing existing centers brings comes back in the 8 percent range. I would anticipate that our progress will be generally through fresh development, ” he says. As well, Lebovitz paperwork that the range of markets in the U. S i9000. that would fulfill CBL’s expansion criteria, together with a trade part of approximately a thousand people, a sizeable visitor base and lack of existing competition, is limited. One high-ranking industry source says that for programmers targeting wall socket center sales on equiparable with Simon’s levels, which average about $550 per sq . feet., there are maybe 10 untrained markets left that in shape the necessary trade area qualities.
For programmers targeting Tanger’s sales amounts, which currently average $371 per sq ft., there are about forty untapped market segments. “But right now there aren’t 75, ” the anonymous resource notes. By the end of the 2012, there will be 187 outlet centers containing 71 million sq ft., according to Benefit Retail News, a distribution that addresses the outlet industry. Linda Humphers, editor-in-chief valuable Retail News, estimates that in the long term, the country may be able to support another two hundred and fifty centers, nevertheless that would include conversions.
Occasionally, a creator will be able to find a site in an offbeat location that no one else has thought about, says Gerard Builder. But for one of the most part, all the REITs will be looking at the same markets, and in many cases, exact same piece of land. “There is evidently room pertaining to growth inside the sector—every major metro location can certainly support outlet retail, ” says Michael L. Glimcher, CEO of Glimcher Realty Trust, a Columbus, Ohiobased local mall REIT that as well owns store centers in Elizabeth, In. J. and Auburn, Wash. I just believe the reality is there are a lot of people in this category and only a small percentage of what’s being announced actually will get created, ” Glimcher says. Bloodless war In terms of handling competition on fresh developments the top retail REITs have bought a standing for being ruthless, employing strategies such as money community level of resistance groups to derail each others’ tasks, says Patrick Fox, director of St Consulting Group, a firm specialists zoning and land-use fights. These are fully developed markets, they may be largely over-built and the fight for market share is huge, ” this individual notes. Yet unlike large regional department stores that often be found in major cities, outlet centers don’t normally inspire those opposition via local occupants, according to James Schutter, senior controlling director with Newmark Knight Frank Retail, a full real estate solutions firm. In fact , many areas want to see wall socket centers created because of the significant amount of sales tax revenue they will bring in. The real battle in outlets’ case is for tenant commitments.
Even though the outlet sector doesn’t have anchors in the same sense the fact that regional shopping mall industry truly does, there are certain crucial stores which might be necessary to entice shoppers and that the rest of outlet retailers stick to, notes Hauer. These include Saks Fifth Opportunity OFF 5th, Coach and Polo, along with Neiman Marcus Last Call up and Nordstrom Rack. With regards to a decade back, Hauer tried to develop an outlet center close to Syracuse, And. Y. When he started discussing with potential tenants the answer was “if you can get Attrazione, we’ll signal. Otherwise, were not interested. “
When ever there are two developers contending to build a center in a marketplace that can support only one project it becomes a race to be the first to announce leases with significant tenants. The developers make an effort to convince growing retailers that their middle is the one that’s going to happen by creating announcements regarding land allows and ground-breakings. Ultimately, however , it’s the line-up of tenants that decides whose center gets built. “Developers mention that they will put together a nearby mall [all the time], they may always make it happen, ” says Schutter. If you’ve got this tenant and this tenant and this renter coming, the other men in the marketplace state, ‘Let’s enter this task. ‘” “A ground-breaking can be not as good as being capable to announce a strong anchor renter, ” Fox adds. So how do individuals key retailers decide who to go with if the choice is between Simon and Tanger, or Simon and Taubman or perhaps Macerich and Craig Real estate Group? After Taubman converted its Superb Lakes Traversing project in to an outlet middle, sales went up significantly.
Obtaining the best web page certainly makes a difference, which is why Bob may be willing to partner with Tanger if Tanger has secured a better area, according to Michael Rodenas. When the assignments are inside the same operate area, the selection might come down to seemingly small differences like which usually side in the highway the middle will be located on or which in turn zip codes in a given place are lacking from the retailer’s customer base. In the outlet market, having existing relationships which has a potential homeowner is also extremely important, according to Hauer, Green
Lebovitz yet others. And in this, Simon, which will controls the largest mall profile and the major outlet middle portfolio near your vicinity, has a incredible advantage. That might not enter into play all the in the Simon/Tanger relationship as the two REITs specialize in slightly different projects, however it will likely weaving loom large in any battle between Simon and also other regional nearby mall REITs. “If you [as a tenant] get Simon angry with you on the wall socket side, they could be angry along on the classic retail side also, ” says Green. Let’s merely say that if so the developer has a large hammer, a greater hammer than any mall-only developer could have. ” For this reason most price tag industry insiders feel that while Taubman and the other local mall REITs will at some point be able to build a handful of wall plug centers, they do not be able to enter the business in the big method they had imagined. “The wall socket mall market is sort of a shut down world, ” says Schutter. Sidebar: Eastern Promises Whilst U. S. retail REIT executives make an effort to build up all their outlet portfolios at home, many of them realize that development opportunities here are limited.
Thus in recent months they’ve been announcing outlet center projects elsewhere in the world, including Canada, Brazil, The japanese, China, South Korea and Malaysia. In April, Sue signed a deal breaker with BAYERISCHER RUNDFUNK Malls Participacoes S. A. to develop wall socket centers in Brazil, together with the first job scheduled to be built in Sao Paulo by simply 2013 and started building on Phase I of Shisui Premium Shops, a 234, 000-sq. -ft. outlet center in Shisui, Japan. Both Simon and Tanger have been completely working on wall plug centers in Canada, including Simon’s 500, 000-sq. ft. Toronto Premium Shops in Halton Hills and Tanger’s 312, 000-sq. -ft. outlet conjunction with Heartland Area Centre in Mississauga. And Taubman management have told analysts they can be looking to build outlet centers in Asia, where Taubman already has offices in Hong Kong and Seoul, To the south Korea. “In the U. S., anyone with going to find outlet centers double in number, ” says Gerard Mason, exec managing director with Savills LLC, a worldwide real estate services firm. “That’s why Claire is in Brazil and China.
In Brazil they might be in a position to do 15 outlet centers because all their middle school is just emerging and they want shopping centers. ” —E. M. Sidebar: Mini-Malls With the increase in outlet centers’ popularity, the notion has evolved to represent something different than a small variety of factory stores in the middle of nowhere. In the 1980s and nineties, the general guideline was that an outlet center had to be located by least 75 miles away from the closest cellphone line, humor one broker. Today, if the shopper goes toward Central Nj, “you have the Freehold Track Mall [a 1 . -million-sq. -ft. superregional center] after which 10 to 15 moments away, there may be an outlet shopping mall, ” in respect to Rich Hauer. This outlet centers have grown much larger, sometimes containing up to 400, 000 sq ft. or 500, 500 sq . feet. of space, whereas the outlet centers of yesterday maintained to typical 150, 500 sq . ft. The renter line-up has changed from manufacturers to big retail chains, many of which usually, including Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Saks Sixth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Gap, L. Crew and Aeropostale, established off-price and outlet partitions.
Plus, wall socket centers today feature mall-like amenities, such as food courts, restaurants and cinemas, because people are staying for the properties much longer than that they used to, paperwork Michael Rodenas. And when CBL & Associates Properties and Horizon Group Properties had been working on the program for The Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City, a 350, 000-sq. -ft. centre that opened up last summer time, CBL noticeable land about the property to get the addition of restaurants and motel facilities. “We feel this adds essential mass, ” says Stephen Lebovitz. —E. M.
