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| Michael Bull |
ATLANTA. GA– Encouraged by positive supply-and-demand
dynamics as well as the low cost of capital, the CEOs of several retail REITs
feel a strong confidence in both their individual firms and the retail sector
as a whole.
Their positive outlooks are outlined in the most recent
episode of the “Commercial Real Estate Show,” hosted by Michael Bull of
Bull Realty.
 |
| Brad Thomas |
For the second week in a row, the show featured interviews
of retail REIT CEOs that were conducted by Bull Realty's Brad Thomas at
the recent RECon 2013 convention in Las Vegas.
Thomas, senior vice president of
capital markets at Bull Realty, writes about REITs for Forbes, Seeking Alpha
and The Street.
 |
| Mark Zalatoris |
“There’s a very positive mood in the retailer environment
today,” said Mark Zalatoris of Inland Real Estate Corp. “Our leasing
people come back from meetings just saying they’re so enthused about the
retailers’ desire to expand store counts.”
 |
| Drew Alexander |
“The mood is really quite good, as the tenant interest in
our product type is especially strong,” said Drew Alexander of
Weingarten Realty, which focuses on acquiring, managing and developing
grocery-anchored and value-retailer-anchored shopping centers.
Additionally, “people realize that a supermarket-anchored or
discount-anchored shopping center is an incredibly recession-resilient vehicle
so there’s tremendous investor interest,” Alexander said.
 |
| Joey Agree |
Two other CEOs provided testimony to the enduring appeal of
standalone, net-leased retail properties to investors.
“We continue to see a
lack of supply coming online, and there’s a ton of demand for acquisitions,
both from traded and non-traded REITs as well as investors seeking yield
replacement,” said Joey Agree of Agree Realty Corp. “It’s on fire.”
 |
| Craig Macnab |
“What’s happening is that the broad investor base has figured
[freestanding, net-leased properties] out,” said Craig Macnab of
National Retail Properties. “As a result, there’s a supply-demand imbalance.
More people want to get on the gravy train.”
The low cost of financing is helping the retail sector in
part by driving up purchase prices, said Joseph Cosenza, vice chairman
of Inland Real Estate Corp.
 |
| Joseph Cosenza |
Cosenza believes the low rates will last a while, noting the
federal government’s statement that it won’t do anything to cause interest
rates to rise until the unemployment rate drops to 6.5 percent. “That’s going
to take a while,” he said.
The entire episode of interviews with retail REIT CEOs is
available for download at
www.CREshow.com. The
next “Commercial Real Estate Show” will examine commercial lease issues.
For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please
contact:
Stephen Ursery
The Wilbert Group
404.405.2354
