Regional malls alive and kicking
That’s not a bad headline leading into RECon 2012 next week in Las Vegas. Not that I can take credit for the verbiage; “Regional malls alive and kicking” is a report issued by SNL Real Estate, Charlottesville, Va.
According to SNL’s information, despite stalled growth in household income, regional malls have held their own, boosted by ongoing consumer interest in luxury items. In fact, occupancy levels at domestic regional malls owned by U.S. REITs moved to 93.2% by the end of 2011, from 91% at the end of 2009. That’s recovery for you.
If you have time before packing up your most comfortable shoes and boarding your flight to Las Vegas at the end of the week to attend our industry’s big show – the International Council of Shopping Centers’ RECon 2012, May 20-23 – give a quick read to the SNL report. It’s an encouraging lead-in to what we all hope will be a fruitful three days.