Michael Puline: Principal’s Mindset is Essential to Modern Brokerage

Retail real estate veteran Michael Puline has joined Marcus & Millichap to guide the strategic growth of Marcus & Millichap’s and Institutional Property Advisors’ (IPA) retail divisions and lead the company’s retail investment sales professionals, helping to ensure seamless execution and client service delivery. He brings a 25-year track record of closing more than 2,500 leasing and sale transactions totaling $8.5 billion. Connect CRE sat down with Puline to delve into the factors that brought him to his new role. 

Q: You spent the past two decades on the principal side — running a diverse national portfolio at DLC, then nearly a decade leading retailer strategy inside a Blackstone-owned platform. What made now the right moment to cross over to brokerage, and how does sitting on both sides of the table change the way you’ll lead the retail division at Marcus & Millichap and Institutional Property Advisors (IPA)?   

A: I joined Marcus & Millichap and IPA because I believe we are at a pivotal point where human intelligence and advanced technology will fundamentally reshape the marketplace. Given the firm’s leadership in transaction activity, it is the perfect platform for me to apply my expertise, skills, and relationships. 

The decision to move now was driven by my belief that the brokerage of the future requires more than just execution-focused management; it requires a principal’s perspective. This means seeing beyond the property itself to understand the capital stack, operational challenges, and long-term business strategy. My goal is to help clients navigate complex operational, capital, and strategic decisions while bringing the added perspective gained from decades on the ownership side of the business. 

Q: Marcus & Millichap is the largest investment-sales firm in the country by transaction count, with a deep private-client base and a growing institutional capability through IPA. What specifically about the platform — its agents, its data, its position in the market — convinced you this was the right home to build the next chapter of national retail? 

A: What was most convincing was the sheer power of the Marcus & Millichap and IPA network. Because the platform sits on an incredible wealth of data that others simply cannot access, and its integration with industry-leading research, it provides the ultimate foundation. In the retail world, where speed and intelligence are everything, having that volume of proprietary information is a massive advantage. 

Ultimately, it was the combination of the culture and the capability that made this the right home. There is a world-class, seasoned management team working alongside advisors who have relentless, entrepreneurial drive and unmatched street-level knowledge. I believe that by equipping that talent with more specialized retail expertise, advanced technology, and a principal mindset, we’ll be positioned to deliver a level of service and insight that is unique across the national retail landscape. 

Q: Retail has gone from the most-doubted asset class of the past decade to one of the strongest fundamentals stories in commercial real estate. Where are you seeing the most aggressive capital today — grocery-anchored, net lease, power centers, redevelopable boxes — and where do you think the bid-ask gap is closing fastest? 

A: For the better part of the last 15 years, there was a significant shift in capital flow away from retail toward industrial real estate to take advantage of the rise in e-commerce. This was driven by the flawed belief that demand for physical retail would erode as digital penetration grew. What we’ve seen instead is consistent, steady growth in retail demand. Not just for traditional retailers and fast-growing QSRs, but also for the ever-expanding retail services that require proximity to where the consumer lives. 

Many modern business models have benefited from the last-mile retail physical footprint, including all the grocers and superstores that have really led in that regard, as well as digital platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats. This realization has fueled strong investment demand from private capital, large institutions, and even the retailers themselves. 

While grocery and net-lease continue to be dominant forces and safe havens, it’s the shop space that is ultimately driving a substantial portion of rental income growth across the sector. We see this in the market where small shop demand has by far driven the majority of growth during this last cycle. This, in turn, has created strong demand for unanchored strips, which are currently some of the best-performing products in the landscape. Ultimately, the bid-ask gap is shrinking fastest where the quality profile is highest across formats, as the market continues to reward the strongest fundamentals. 

Q: Vacancy is at historic lows in many markets, and new supply is barely keeping up. What’s the conversation you’re having with national tenants right now — about rents, formats, the trade-off between anchored and inline space, and where they want to grow next — and where do you see the biggest opportunities for owners to push value? 

A: One major highlight is that we are seeing retailers become more receptive to paying higher rents. This is in response to both stronger sales and improved margins. If you look across the sector, most major retailers still enjoy record-low occupancy costs across their chains. We also see retailers adapting in real time to capitalize on the limited opportunities available. This has translated into national tenants becoming significantly more flexible regarding their formats and market strategies. 

The standard footprint is being reinvented: we’re seeing retailers who traditionally operated in 40,000-50,000-square-foot successfully pivoting into 15,000-20,000-square-foot concepts. Conversely, retailers who historically occupied 10,000 square feet are now taking 20,000 square feet to secure a prime location and capture share alongside merchandise shifts. 

The most telling change, however, is in the negotiation of lease terms. To maintain growth trajectories, retailers are becoming much less rigid on legacy lease language, specifically regarding exclusives and co-tenancy requirements. This environment has created a long-term shift in value back to ownership that doesn’t show up immediately in underwriting. Because tenants are prioritizing speed to market over strict prototypical requirements, owners have a unique window to push value and optimize tenant mixes. 

Q: If we sit down twelve months from now, what do you hope you’ll have built at Marcus & Millichap and IPA — and what’s the one trend in retail real estate you think the rest of the industry isn’t paying enough attention to yet? 

A: Twelve months from now, my goal is for our team to be the preeminent retail experts in the market. We aren’t just providing investment sales advice; we are providing a deep, forensic understanding of the market shifts occurring across the retail landscape, categories, and companies. 

The industry still underestimates how transformative the integration of human expertise and scalable technology will be. 

Far too few firms are successfully matching their human intelligence with their technology stack and deploying tools at scale. If a firm is unable to complement its human capital with scalable technological advances, they are going to fall behind. The good news is that Marcus & Millichap and IPA are leading in this area, not just reacting to it. We are focused on building proprietary tools that enhance our human capital, industry-leading research, and operational experience, rather than forcing our people to build their strengths around the newest, loudest platform. That distinction, tech as an enhancer of expertise rather than a replacement for it, is the trend that I believe will define the next chapter of this industry. And only a few weeks into the role, I’m already seeing how quickly that progress is accelerating.