Our investment expertise lies within the unanchored retail strip space. Since our founding in 2005, Shannon Waltchack has owned and operated countless small retail shopping centers across the country. As you might imagine, we have developed an aptitude for what works best for our proforma and what to steer clear of when it comes to sourcing deals.
We are focused on procuring strip centers with service-focused tenants, including both local mom and pop occupants as well as national credit leases. When positioned in key intersections, these centers become community hubs for the surrounding neighborhoods. Service-oriented tenants in shopping centers offer services rather than tangible goods – meaning that the customer must be physically present to engage the service. Examples include restaurants, cosmetic/beauty salons, fitness centers, medical and healthcare, financial services, etc.
While it’s exciting to see new construction and development happening in this space, we have found that our preference is to stick to older, more established shopping centers in densely populated, affluent areas. Long-term tenants have serious advantages for owners and managers, including loyal customer bases, location familiarity, investment in the build-out, reduced turnover costs and more.
“In established centers, looking at the rent roll is akin to looking under the hood of car. It may be shiny on the outside, but the rent roll tells a story, both good and bad. Superior centers have a strong track record of tenant renewals,” said SW Partner Len Shannon, SIOR, CCIM.
When sourcing deals in our local market we gravitate toward the “oldie but a goodie” mentality, avoiding the appeal of shiny, new properties where the rent will be sky high and turnover is likely.
"In established centers, looking at the rent roll is akin to looking under the hood of car. It may be shiny on the outside, but the rent roll tells a story, both good and bad. Superior centers have a strong track record of tenant renewals," said SW Partner Len Shannon, SIOR, CCIM.
