Josh Poag on the birth of Poag Development Group

For a company like Poag Development Group (previously Poag Shopping Centers), which developed the first “lifestyle center” in America” and originated that term, creating places and spaces that people want to visit and spend time in is one of the key principles on which our Memphis-based company was founded.

Poag specializes in designs that prioritize vibrant public spaces along with experiential tenants: environments conceived and created with opportunities for people to leave their homes and to socialize. That place-making expertise remains the basis of Poag’s identity as it begins to shift its focus from management to development, a strategic decision designed to unlock new development and redevelopment opportunities nationwide.

It is a move made possible in part because of a recently announced partnership with Chicago-based JLL, the largest third-party retail property management company in North America. This alliance will enable Poag to focus on its award-winning development services, as well as provide development and redevelopment services for JLL nationally. As of now, JLL handles Poag’s management and leasing services.

This partnership positions us to capitalize on our strengths and broaden our horizons into new markets. Poag has the capital and capabilities, the resources and relationships, and the experience and expertise to create and sustain some of the most memorable, engaging, and commercially successful environments in the country.

At a time when the industry is evolving and embracing a wider range of new mixed-use formats—and when retail is all too often an afterthought in a mixed-use project—Poag’s demonstrated ability to create and optimize memorable and profitable retail environments is more relevant and more in need than ever. We want retail to be the focus that creates the branding and personality for a development. Crucial in the mix are exciting experiential tenants that make the property more alluring and drive value to all the other tenants.

For a company that has developed more lifestyle centers than any other, adding new projects to an expansive portfolio that already includes a wide range of successful retail and mixed-use destinations in states across the country is an exciting new opportunity. Our alliance with JLL will extend Poag’s portfolio into an abundance of new markets. Being able to rely on JLL’s national footprint and local market experts is invaluable, and we are thrilled to be able to seek out promising new projects on a national scale.