Speaking at NAREIT's investor forum taking place in Chicago this week, a manager with Invesco Real Estate said he views regional mall REITs as a particularly attractive investment right now. The REITs own a disproportionately large share of trophy regional malls in the U.S. and with occupancy levels and rental rates on the rise, they should only continue to thrive in the near-term future.
Here are some thoughts on the outlook for the largest U.S. mall REITs from RBC Capital Markets.
In other news from the investor forum, General Growth Properties executives revealed they would like to buy a couple of luxury retail properties in urban markets to complement their regional mall portfolio. An example would be GGP's recent bid for 650 Madison Avenue in New York City--a Midtown Manhattan office building with 75,000 sq. ft. of street-level shops, including Crate & Barrel. (GGP lost the bid to Crown Acquisitions and Highgate).