The ancient Greeks called it the “agora,” the marketplace, where people congregated, products were offered for sale, and culture and ideas were shared. Even with the passage of 3,000 years, that marketplace exists today in shopping centers and retail sites, where tenants operate their businesses and sell their goods to customers, and opinions and ideas are shared real time, by real people. It is the experience of in-person shopping and social interaction that drives consumers to shopping centers.
Retail development is evolving; old ideas are giving way to new models of what a shopping center should include to attract shoppers. Today’s shopping center should reflect consumers’ changing priorities and habits. For this reason, retail developers are embracing an omni-channel approach, which provides a seamless shopping experience with both brick and mortar stores and a variety of electronic and social media experiences.
Drivers of traffic in this omni-channel experience consists of traditional customer walk-ins, as well as when a shopper comes to your store to research a product in person but then goes home and buys it online, maybe from a competitor, and when a shopper researches a product online and comes to your store to see it before purchasing it. The key to success lies in attracting otherwise home shoppers to your center and convincing them to stay by including non-traditional use amenities like child play spaces, restaurants, nail salons, and other conveniences that enhance their shopping experience.
Our Shopping Center and Retail Development Group focuses on helping landlords, owners, and developers realize and protect their vision of the modern day agora, both regionally and nationally.
Our Shopping Center and Retail Development Legal Services
Garnering the strength, education, and real world knowledge of more than 25 interdisciplinary attorneys, our group is dedicated to all aspects of the market, including leasing, sales and refinance, land use, liquor licensing, franchising, environmental, enforcement, compliance, mixed use, construction, tax appeals, and condemnations.
Our attorneys are actively involved in the shopping center and retail development industry, holding leadership positions within a number of organizations. These industry groups provide us with insight and knowledge on the most up-to-date issues facing your project. Some of the organizations that our team members are involved include:
- International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
- International Franchise Association (IFA)
- Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM)
- Garden State Brewers Guild (GSBG)
- National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP)
- New Jersey Builders Association (NJBA)
- Property Owners Association (POA)
Representative Experience
*Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances*
Some recent highlights of our Group include:
- Assisting in a $1 billion refinance of a national grocery chain;
- Purchase of 38 buildings in the Bronx, NY for development;
- Obtaining a $700,000 judgment and satisfying the same for a regional developer after a complex week-long trial;
- Successfully rezoning parcels for development in heated township opposition;
- Prosecuting the Postal Service in Federal Claims Court and obtaining resolution for payment of unpaid real estate taxes;
- Winning a $4 million judgment for an owner after a week-long tax appeal trial;
- Protecting numerous landlords in Chapter 11 tenant bankruptcy cases, including the A&P, RadioShack, Fairway Markets, EMS, Gander Mountain, Payless, rue21, Ignite Restaurant Group and Sports Authority cases; and
- Negotiated national leases for at the Microsoft Technology Center in 11 Times Square.
*Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances*
