MALL MADNESS

Despite the appearance of green shoots, the development market is still volatile, says GreenbergFarrow principal John Clifford, who recently relocated from Atlanta to the NY office. (We thought our commute was bad— he constantly flew between the cities!) Developers and owners are carefully hunting for value, as no one wants to risk projects for a 3% ROI. But one hot asset class is vertical retail, he says. A recent GreenbergFarrow project was the renovation and repositioning of the Manhattan Mall; its redesign included improved site access and circulation, core and atrium renovations, relocating and adding escalators and elevators, and exterior façade recladding.
John's firm also worked on the 1M-SF Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market, East Harlem's 500k-SF East River Plaza (pictured), and the 600k-SF Rego Park Mall II (now completing construction) and recently completed the redesign and expansion of the Bergen Mall in Paramus, NJ. You can still reap rewards in underserved markets with high barriers to entry, like NYC, Boston, San Francisco, and Chicago, John says. Canada—a "night and day" market compared with the US—has also brought new work to the firm. John is also seeing more projects where investors are buying distressed assets and want to add more value to their purchases.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's New York Newsletters
Related Stories

Downtown Atlanta Improvement Group Picks Food Bank Chief As Next Leader

Trump's DEI Crackdown Is Creating New Risks For Landlords That Lease To The Government

Taconic Partners Sheds Another NYC Life Sciences Property

Judge Dismisses Suit Alleging Alexandria Misled Investors Over Portfolio Strength

Oxford Properties' U.S. Investment Head On Why It's Buying Office Again — And Where

Brandon Johnson Seeks Second Term Amid Strained CRE Relationship

New Occupiers And More VC Money Fuel UK Life Sciences Rebirth

25 Years After 9/11, Lower Manhattan Is Finally Firing On All Cylinders

DFW's Life Sciences Sector Offers Startups The Ingredients They Need To Scale

Tishman Speyer Seeks $92M Tax Break For Next Hudson Yards Office Tower

Former CBRE Exec Suing Brokerage Giant Over Age Discrimination, Whistleblower Complaint

D.C. Investor Behind The Stacks Swaps CEO For First Time In 25 Years