Len Mistretta | Oil rises more than 2 percent as U.S. crude output slows

Oil rose more than 2 percent on Monday, resuming its longest stretch of daily gains in more than five years after data pointed to diminished U.S. output, though analysts said news of rising OPEC production could cap gains.

Brent crude futures closed up 91 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $49.68 a barrel. The price rose 5.2 percent last week for the first weekly gain in six.

U.S. crude futures closed up $1.03, or 2.2 percent, to $47.07 a barrel, an almost one-month high. U.S. crude futures trading volumes were low a day before the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

Crude was up for an eighth straight session, the longest stretch of gains since February 2012.

"It’s all about market sentiment," said Commerzbank senior oil analyst Carsten Fritsch. He cited a 100,000 barrel per day drop in U.S. production due to tropical storms and maintenance, as well as a decline in U.S. rig count.

"These... (temporary) factors outweigh the sharp increase in OPEC oil production in June... and the continued increase in Libyan and Nigerian output, at least at the moment," he said.

Speculators in Brent crude futures and options raised their bets against a sustained price rise to the highest level on record in the latest week. In a note on Friday, Citibank wrote that the managed net long position was the smallest since January 2016.

After 23 straight weeks of increased rigs, drilling activity for new oil production in the United States fell for the first time since January, dropping by two rigs, while U.S. government data showed crude output fell in April for the first time this year.

"We think the fall in prices has caused U.S. output growth to slow," Standard Chartered wrote in a note on Monday, "Revisions for May and June will confirm that supply is growing at a significantly more modest rate than the market has believed up to now."

The oil price is down more than 12 percent this year, with strong global demand insufficient to absorb rising output from the United States, Nigeria, Brazil, the North Sea and Libya, which has risen to more than 1 million barrels per day.

Output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries hit a 2017 high. June OPEC production rose 280,000 bpd to 32.72 million bpd, a Reuters survey showed, despite the group's pledge to hold back output.

On Monday at an event in London, Iraq's oil minister, Jabar al-Luaibi, said the country has the right to achieve oil output in line with its crude reserves.

(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London, Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by David Goodman and Leslie Adler)

Len Mistretta | Fla. health care campus earns LEED gold

Lakeland Regional Health’s recently opened Grasslands campus has earned LEED gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which recognizes buildings that are designed and built and operated “for improved environmental and human health performance.“
Construction of the Grasslands campus in Florida started in early 2015 and was completed in June 2016. It houses physician offices and a physical rehabilitation program, reports The Ledger.
“The design of the building was created with the concepts of ‘body, mind and soul’ as part of the patient healing experience,” according to a news release from Lakeland Regional Health.
Examples of what earned the certification for Grasslands Campus include:
- Reduction of total building energy use of 39 percent over the calculated baseline building.
- 76 percent of construction waste was recycled and kept out of the landfill.
- 28 percent of building materials were manufactured using recycled materials.
- 33 percent of the building materials were extracted and manufactured within 500 miles of the building site.
- All adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, flooring and composite wood meet the LEED standard for low-emitting materials.
- Preferred parking spaces for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles and preferred parking spaces for carpool and vanpool vehicles to encourage ride-sharing among team members.
- Reduction of potable water use at flush and flow fixtures by 34 percent and reduction of potable water use for irrigation by 68 percent.
“The Grasslands Campus serves as a prime example of how the work of innovative building projects can use local solutions to make a global impact on the environment,” Mahesh Ramanujam, U.S. Green Building Council president and CEO, said in a news release.

Len Mistretta | Washington Becomes Latest State to Seek ID Compliance

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — People in Washington state likely won't have to worry next year about the identification they take to the airport after Gov. Jay Inslee signed a measure Tuesday seeking to make the state one of more than two dozen in compliance with federal identification requirements.

Washington and several other states have struggled for years to comply with the REAL ID Act, a 2005 federal law that requires state driver's licenses and ID cards to have security enhancements and to be issued to people who can prove they are legally in the United States.

The law was passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to strengthen rules for identification needed at airports and federal facilities.

Some liberal and conservative states have objected to the new rules, with concerns ranging from discrimination to worries that law-abiding U.S. citizens could be tracked using the new system.

Others have opposed the U.S. government unilaterally setting standards in an area traditionally handled by states.

With a January deadline looming, lawmakers across the country have been scrambling for legislative fixes so residents can board flights and travel without confusion.

"This will help to ease problems at border crossings, airports, federal courthouses, and military bases where REAL ID compliant documents are required," Inslee said before he signed the bill, adding that the measure ensures the "convenience and security of our citizens."

Just 25 states and the District of Columbia are currently in compliance with the federal law, though most of the remaining states and territories have been granted various extensions.

Residents of states that are in compliance have until Oct. 21, 2020, before being required to show the REAL ID compliant identification.

Residents of states that are not in compliance with REAL ID and do not have an extension need additional identification for access to some military bases and federal facilities and, starting next Jan. 22, to board commercial flights.

Washington state already offers, but does not mandate, enhanced driver's licenses and IDs that require proof of U.S. citizenship and are valid under the federal law. The state also issues standard licenses that don't comply with the federal rule.

Starting in July 2018, those standard licenses will be marked to indicate they are not REAL ID compliant and thus not acceptable for certain purposes by federal authorities.

Residents will have a choice of which license they want. Those with the non-compliant licenses will need additional documentation — such as a passport, permanent resident card or military ID — to board domestic commercial flights and for other federal purposes, most likely starting in October 2020.

Maine, Minnesota, Missouri and Montana are the only states currently listed as not compliant with the law and without an extension from the federal government. However, Maine's governor last month signed a REAL ID compliance bill passed by the Legislature, and Montana and Missouri this year have both passed bills awaiting their governors' signatures.

Several other states are considering bills related to REAL ID compliance, including Alaska, Minnesota, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Governors in Kentucky, Oklahoma and South Carolina also have signed REAL ID compliance bills this year.

As Washington's proposal worked its way through the Legislature, some opponents said it didn't go far enough in requiring proof of legal presence for those receiving licenses or IDs. Others argued that the marked licenses could lead to discrimination.

Language added to the bill by the state House sought to prohibit the marked licenses from being used to determine or infer citizenship or immigration status or to spark an investigation or arrest that otherwise would not have occurred.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington had asked Inslee to veto the measure. The group's Shankar Narayan said he and others still have serious concerns.

"There's some visceral resistance of this idea of a national ID card and whether the federal government will misuse this information," he said. "This really cuts across party lines."

Now that a bill has been signed in Washington state, officials will seek review by the federal government, which will determine whether the state should be granted an additional extension past the current one of June 6.

That would allow time for the state to implement changes and to give people time to determine which license they want to get, said Tony Sermonti, legislative director for the state Department of Licensing.

Sermonti said federal officials have indicated the Washington state bill would comply with the law. He believes the state will likely be granted an additional extension and not be subject to REAL ID enforcement until October 2020.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Len Mistretta | US retail real estate extends its bruising slide

Shares in companies that own and manage US shopping malls and other retail properties dropped on Tuesday, the fourth-straight decline, amid mounting anxiety over disappointing sales at department stores and clothing retailers.

The S&P 500 retail real estate investment trust index dropped 1.9 per cent on Tuesday, and has tumbled 6 per cent since the end of trade last Wednesday.

The seven groups listed on the benchmark have collectively shed $7.2bn in market value over the period, according to Bloomberg data.

The current decline deepens the fall for retail Reits over the past 12 months to 23 per cent, compared with a 3 per cent drop for the wider Reits industry. The broader market has risen 16.2 per cent over the past year.

Investors have been fixated on a string of sales misses in recent days disclosed by the best-known US department stores, such as Macy’s, Kohl’s and JC Penney.

Wall Street’s gloomy sentiment intensified on Tuesday, when TJX Cos, a discount retailer that has tended to buck the troubles of retailers, disclosed its weakest like-for-like sales growth since 2015, along with a disappointing outlook. Dick’s Sporting Goods, a speciality retailer, also posted a sales miss.

In a sign of the rising jitters, shares in Simon Property Group, the biggest US mall operator, have slid 7 per cent since last Wednesday to $154.13.

Meanwhile, the cost to insure Simon’s debt against default has ticked higher. Credit default swaps that are used by investors to hedge holdings of the company’s bonds were the worst performers on Tuesday in an index compiled by Markit that tracks such derivatives on investment-grade companies.

The spread on Simon’s five-year CDS was 107.7 basis points on Tuesday, up from 94.5bp last Wednesday, Bloomberg data show. The group is rated in the single A range by S&P, Moody’s and Fitch.

Despite the dim sentiment, however, Ross Smotrich, an analyst at Barclays, said this week that Simon’s management appeared to be doing a good job at dodging the retail industry’s troubles.

 

“Given the current environment of increased store closures, we believe the stability underlying [Simon’s] operating metrics speaks to the company’s ability to effectively manage the industry’s current headwinds,” he said.

Elsewhere, shares in Pfizer, the world’s largest standalone drugmaker, fell by 1.6 per cent to $32.60, after Citibank issued a scathing note warning that the group would miss profit forecasts in the absence of a large deal.

Andrew Baum, the widely-followed Citi analyst, downgraded the pharmaceuticals group from “neutral” to “sell” and reduced its earnings estimates by between 5 and 10 per cent for the 2018-22 period.

“Pfizer needs a deal to deliver consensus earnings per share,” Mr Baum wrote.

Mr Baum said that Bristol-Myers Squibb and Allergan — which Pfizer tried and failed to buy last year — were the most likely targets, but warned that any deal carried a “major transaction risk” for the company.

Looking at the broader market, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1 per cent to 2,400.7, having ticked up to a record intraday high earlier. The Nasdaq Composite edged up by 0.3 per cent to 6,169.9, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 20,979.8.

Len Mistretta | Investcorp adds $160m into US real estate

Investcorp, a global provider and manager of alternative investment products, announced yesterday that its US-based real estate arm has invested in an industrial portfolio of properties in the Chicago and Boston metropolitan areas for a total purchase price of approximately 160m. The portfolio includes six properties with an aggregate of approximately 1.8 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space. 

Investcorp, which has operations in Qatar, focuses on generating investor and shareholder value through a disciplined investment approach in businesses like corporate investment, real estate, alternative investment solutions , together with the recently added credit management business.

Johannes Glas, Managing Director at Investcorp in Qatar, said, "We are pleased to add these six warehouse assets to the Investcorp portfolio. Being close to major cities, all of the properties are located in high demand areas with limited supply. We believe this creates very attractive market dynamics and the properties will generate solid rental income."

The Chicago portfolio, located in close proximity to downtown Chicago, is comprised of three individual cold storage industrial buildings that are used primarily for the storage and distribution of frozen food products. There is limited cold storage industrial space in Chicago and minimal new development that is able to service the city's growing consumer base as demand for fresh, organic and perishable food products continues to grow. Investcorp is partnering with Bridge Development Partners, one of the largest owner/operators of cold storage in the Chicago market.

In Boston, Investcorp has purchased a warehouse, distribution and flex portfolio totaling approximately 1.1 million square feet. These properties are located in the southern portion of the Boston metropolitan area, with convenient access to major transportation thoroughfares for easy distribution to businesses throughout the city and adjacent suburbs.

Len Mistretta | Luxury housing marks the latest trend in stadium amenities around the country

By the time it’s completed in 2019, the new stadium complex for the National Football League’s Los Angeles Rams will span almost 300 acres with free-standing concession stands encased in glass and a 50-foot-tall video board covering the length of the playing field.

Premium suites inside the 70,000-plus seat facility will include up to 20,000 club seats and loge boxes, including Lux Cabanas, a beach-themed club at field level hovering above one of the end zones.

Yet the $2.6 billion project just south of L.A. in the city of Inglewood will also include another coveted amenity for any die-hard sports fan: luxury homes.

In addition to a hotel, casino and 620,000 square feet of retail space, the new stadium complex will include Hollywood Park, a residential property development with up to 3,000 homes.

While some of the new dwellings are aimed at middle-income residents who have been increasingly squeezed by L.A.’s soaring real estate market, most will target the luxury sector with sprawling apartments overlooking the stadium outfitted with wedge hardwood flooring, sliding glass doors and soaring beamed ceilings. The project’s developers, Wilson Meany and Stockbridge Capital Group, have yet to reveal prices.

“We’re building a year-round community, not just a sports stadium,” says Gerard McCallum II, project manager for Wilson Meany who is overseeing Hollywood Park. “This will give fans and Los Angeles residents a great opportunity to be a part of the sports environment and connect with a real community.”

[High-rise luxury apartments near Nationals Park in D.C.’s Navy Yard ready for move in]

As more cities across the United States break ground on expensive new sports stadiums and arenas, some are including real estate components either directly on the complex grounds or nearby. From Atlanta to Minneapolis, Sacramento to Miami, developers are rushing to add condominiums and rental apartments to the long list of amenities available to ardent sports fans.

The move to add real estate is fueled, in part, by wanting to bolster the fan experience, but it is also an attempt to offset the soaring price tags to build new stadiums in some cities, say real estate experts.

In some cases, developers are also being pressured by city governments and local residents to add affordable housing to these massive stadium projects.

Residents have begun moving into First, a 325-unit apartment building at 1263 First St. SE in the District near Nationals Park. The mixed-use project is being developed jointly by Grosvenor Americas and McCaffery Interests and will include more than 24,000 square feet of retail space and a Residence Inn by Marriott.

Rents for the studio, one- and two-bedroom units range from $1,815 to $4,520.

The new property includes a swimming pool, a hot tub and a key selling point — stadium-style seating on the roof with views into Nationals Park.

“I can watch batting practice from my apartment. I make something to eat and go on the roof and watch the game,” said Bob Lind, 52, a software developer, who moved into First in early April.

“There’s stadium seating with a big screen,” added Lind, who also goes to the games. There’s also a “panoramic view of the city — there’s the [Washington] Monument, the [National] Cathedral, the Capitol and the Anacostia River. You see everyone partying in the bullpen — it’s pretty cool.”

After more than a decade of delays and lawsuits, a major development around Barclays Center in Brooklyn — the home of the Nets and Islanders that opened in 2012 — is finally accelerating construction of affordable housing.

[Near Nationals Park, a neighborhood of many names is emerging]

While the $1 billion arena is the centerpiece of the Pacific Park project, thousands of apartments are also being built aimed at working- and middle-class families who are shut out of a rapidly gentrifying area near downtown Brooklyn.

Nina Maluenda says being close to Barclays Center was only part of the reason she and her husband, Mehdi, moved into 461 Dean Street, one of several new towers in Brooklyn overlooking the sports complex.

Developed by Forest City Ratner Cos., the 32-story building has 363 rental units that are designated as 50 percent affordable, 50 percent market rate. “It’s nice to be so close to the sports arena, but we really liked being in the center of culture and the arts in Brooklyn,” says Maluenda, a marketing associate. “The building is right next to a lot of art and performance spaces in this part of Brooklyn, and that really appealed to us.”

But the push in Brooklyn to build affordable housing as part of a sports complex is largely an exception rather than the rule.

“Some developers see a real financial upside to adding middle- and upper-income housing to these projects,” says Selma Hepp, chief economist at San Francisco-based Pacific Union. “They are creating communities that they think will deliver financial reward in the long term.”

In Sacramento, the new state-of-the-art home of the National Basketball Association’s Kings cost nearly $600 million to build. The 17,608-seat arena opened last fall and includes 82 luxury suites and year-round access for its owners. An in-arena app also allows fans to help control the temperature in their section.

But developers of the Golden 1 Center are also set to open a 16-story mixed-use office tower including a 250-room hotel in the summer and residence on the complex grounds later this fall. The Sawyer overlooks the new arena and includes 45 condominiums with some of the highest prices in the city.

The Atlanta Braves moved into their new $672 million ballpark this season. Yet beyond the 4,000 premium seats and 18,000-square-foot hospitality club, the project at SunTrust Park also includes Home at the Battery Atlanta, three new residential communities under construction on the complex grounds.

Totaling 531 units, the three rental properties will feature one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with amenities ranging from exclusive clubhouse access to rooftop bars and lounges with wraparound balconies with ballpark views. Developer Pollack Shores says one of the three communities, Residences, was ready Opening Day on April 14 when the Braves hosted the San Diego Padres. The other two communities, Parkside and Flats, will open in May and July, respectively. Rental prices range from $1,225 to $4,505.

“We’ve created this unique opportunity to not only tailgate from your patio but also to enjoy other qualities residents look for like walking and biking trails and easy access to major highways,” says Steven Shores, president and co-founder of Pollack Shores.

The new residential developments arrive amid another boom in stadium and arena construction around the United States. At least a dozen new professional sports complexes are under some form of development, with twice as many in the planning stages, according to the CoStar Group, an online marketplace for commercial real estate. This is on top of the dozens of professional ballparks and stadiums erected during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Despite putting up with the noise, crowds and traffic (to say nothing of losing seasons), adding residential property near or on a sports complex can add value to a home, housing data indicates.

According to real estate website Trulia, the areas around major league baseball stadiums saw home values rise 15 percent higher than the greater metropolitan areas in which they were located. While those values vary widely based on stadium location, Trulia data showed that the areas around 18 of the 29 stadiums had higher median home values compared with the cities in which they are located. Rents in those 18 neighborhoods were either higher or equal to those in the surrounding towns, Trulia says.

Homes around newer baseball stadiums — which tend to be in pricier neighborhoods — fared better, Trulia notes. Of the 14 stadiums built since 1999, only two neighborhoods — around Marlins Park in Miami and Miller Park in Milwaukee — had home values lower than the metros in which they were located.

Opened in 2008, Nationals Park in Washington is perhaps a prime example of a ballpark fueling residential development and lifting home values. Once home to one of the District’s grittier neighborhoods, the area around the ballpark is today booming with new construction, including upscale apartments, restaurants and bars.

Since 2012, more than 2,300 residential units have been added to the area around Nationals Park, and 3,727 are in the pipeline, according to RealPage, a maker of property management software. The influx of development makes the area the fifth-busiest submarket in the United States for apartment construction, RealPage says.

And the area is getting more property development. Construction is expected to begin soon in the nearby Buzzard Point neighborhood on a new D.C. United soccer stadium and two apartment projects with a combined 869 rentals and condos.

“The Nationals’ stadium has been an absolute property boon to that area,” says Michael Rankin, managing partner of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in the District. “The city hasn’t seen anything like it in decades.”

The Baltimore Orioles helped usher in the stadium-building boom in 1992 when they opened Camden Yards. But Trulia found that home values around that ballpark were 16 percent lower than the greater metro area: $211,724 near the stadium vs. $251,724 for the city.

But Seema Iyer, an assistant professor of real estate at the University of Baltimore, says the Trulia data doesn’t consider the longer view of housing around Camden Yards.

“If you look at what home prices were like in that area of Baltimore before the park was built and compare that to today, you’ll see fairly sharp housing appreciation,” Iyer says. “Camden Yards was a pretty depressed area before the park arrived, but since then it’s seen a tremendous level of commercial and retail activity, so the park literally created a housing community that didn’t exist before.”

Len Mistretta | Desperate Malls Turn to Concerts and Food Trucks

Malls are fighting for shoppers with one thing their web rivals can’t offer: parking lots.

With customer traffic sagging, U.S. retail landlords are using their sprawling concrete lots to host events such as carnivals, concerts and food-truck festivals. They’re aiming to lure visitors with experiences that can’t be replicated online -- and then get them inside the properties to spend some money.

“Events draw people to come to the shopping center,” said Keith Herkimer, whose company, KevaWorks Inc., is working with big landlords including GGP Inc. and Simon Property Group Inc. to produce outdoor events. “They generate revenue for the owner and offer a chance for cross-promotion, so they can try and drive more customers into the stores.”

Mall owners across the country are grappling with record store closings and declining rents. Retail property values are down 3 percent in past six months, as all other types of commercial real estate showed gains, according to the Moody’s/Real Capital Analytics indexes. A Bloomberg gauge of publicly traded mall landlords has tumbled 15 percent in the past year, the worst performance among U.S. real estate investment trusts.

Amazon.com Inc. and other internet retailers continue to grow, while department stores including Sears Holdings Corp. and Macy’s Inc. have been closing hundreds of locations. Payless Inc., the discount shoe seller, is among the latest to announce a massive shuttering -- of 400 stores -- as part of a bankruptcy plan.

“We expect to see a trend of more closings,” said Carol Kemple, an analyst at Hilliard Lyons. “Most retailers, if they’re still standing in September, will probably try to make it through the holiday season.”

Creating Experiences
Retail landlords have already made a push toward experience-driven offerings by adding restaurants, movie theaters and activity centers for children. Many malls are also adding rotating stores around for only a short time -- known as pop-up shops -- that are meant to attract young customers who see shopping as an event.

Now, events are reaching beyond the malls themselves. Herkimer’s task is to bring crowds to parking lots with events that generate as much as $60,000 a week for mall owners from the largest outdoor events.

The idea is gaining traction. Next month, Simon Property is having the first carnival in its Round Rock Premium Outlets parking lot, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Austin, Texas. Similar events are being held for the first time at locations such as Central Mall in Port Arthur, Texas, managed by Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., and a Cheyenne, Wyoming, mall owned by CBL & Associates Properties Inc. In July, Simon Property’s Orland Square Mall, southwest of Chicago, will be holding its first parking-lot food-truck festival, with plans for live music performances, Herkimer said.
Movie Nights

Lisa Harper, senior director of specialty leasing for Chattanooga, Tennessee-based CBL, said the company has expanded its carnival business at many of its 87 properties over the last couple years. She and Herkimer have discussed the possibility of pumpkin patches in the fall months and adding movie nights to some properties. CBL’s Triangle Town Center, in Raleigh, North Carolina, is about to start its second mini concert and food-truck series, called Creekside Wind Down, Harper said.

Retailers rent the outdoor space in a structure that resembles their indoor leases, Harper said. While each deal varies, the agreements involve a base rent fee for the use of the space and a percentage payment after the event reaches a certain threshold. Department stores, which sometimes own or control their parking lots, are seeing more value in renting the space after many years of restricting their use, she said.
‘Stick Around’

“Events brings that additional traffic and also encourage people to stick around longer,” Harper said.

There’s no guarantee, of course, that people will go inside, said Tracey Hatley, director of specialty leasing for JLL Retail. But the events offer opportunities for cross-promotion. Customers receive fliers advertising stores or restaurants inside the mall or coupon books to help draw them in.

That works well for properties like the Santa Rosa Mall in Mary Esther, Florida, Hatley said.

“They are a property that’s struggling with occupancy, struggling with driving traffic to the center, so they love doing parking-lot events,” she said. “You can see it from the road and it gets people on the property.”

Simon Property representatives didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Groceries, Doctors

Some malls are doing fine even without renting out their outdoor space, especially higher quality properties with upscale stores. They have been drawing visitors with grocery stores, medical offices and high-end restaurants -- all businesses that face less risk from e-commerce competition than traditional tenants. Some retail REITs are adding office space or apartments to their portfolios to diversify.

Sandeep Mathrani, chief executive officer of GGP, said at a conference this month that the perfect mall now would include one department store, a supermarket, an Apple store, a Tesla store and businesses that started out online, like Warby Parker, the purveyor of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. Clothing stores now represent about 50 percent of the average shopping center, down from about 70 percent, he said.

“Landlords are trying to give people reasons to come to the mall, whether it’s a Tesla charging station or getting local car clubs to host events in their parking lots,” said Alexander Goldfarb, an analyst at Sandler O’Neill & Partners LP. “It’s not a fun time to be either a retailer or landlord, but it doesn’t mean every single mall or shopping center is going to close. Far from it.”

And for some retailer landlords with better-performing properties, the industry’s turmoil could mean more opportunity.Len Mistretta
‘Enormous Opportunity’

“This very painful process will surely take more than five years,” Steven Roth, Vornado Realty Trust’s chief executive officer, said in a letter to shareholders this month. “It will also create enormous opportunity for those with the capital and management platforms to feed on the carnage.”

Urban Edge Properties, a Vornado spinoff, is one landlord adding to its holdings. The company is under contract to buy seven retail properties, with 1.5 million square feet (140,000 square meters) of gross leasable space, mostly in the New York City area.

Until malls can figure out how to bring in steady crowds, expect to see corn dogs and carousels in their parking lots, Herkimer said.

“If retail turned around and vacancy rates dropped again, and all the sudden these malls and shopping centers are full of tenants, I think there’d be a circle in the other direction,” he said. “They’d say, ‘We need the parking space for customers.’” Len Mistretta