According to Denton Walker with Trammell Crow Co., there used to be a great deal of pushback from the investment community when it came to mixed-use developments, including those with multifamily. What a difference a decade or two makes. “Now, everyone is trying to get into mixed use,” Walker commented. “The investment community figured out that there was less risk in backing a mixed-use development.”

Walker joined panelists Artemio De La Vega (De La Vega Development), Mick Granlund (O’Brien Architects) and moderator Whitney Livingston (Madison Marquette) at the ICSC’s recent Texas Retail Forecast event, which took place in Dallas. The session, “Development and Construction,” focused on development challenge and changes, and, of course, 2018 predictions.

The panelists all agreed that experiential retail is definitely in with placemaking hugely important in the planning and developing stages. “In the past, when we’d start out planning a retail center, we’d look at how much coverage we’d get on a site and how convenient it would be to get vehicles in and out,” Granlund said. “These days, we figure out where the public transportation is, and where technology will influence the place we’re designing.”

De La Vega pointed out that, since the last economic cycle, the former retail consisting of category mixes with huge open parking spaces are now morphing into service-oriented, high-growth tenants. In other words, retailers that aren’t vulnerable to online penetration. “Treasure hunting is all we talk about,” he added. “It seems to work well with the current environment, with retailers that have found a successful niche.” The retailers he named, T.J. Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, Burlington, the warehouse clubs and dollar stores, are examples of “treasure hunting,” in that shoppers don’t mind going to these places to hunt for “treasures” because of the money they save.

Walker noted that, in addition to placemaking and shopper technology, any development today has to involve the municipality. “The cities are more involved in the development process than ever,” he observed. Walker went on to say that development these days is challenging, due to increasing construction costs, getting retailers pinned down and trying to keep lender and equity partners happy. “It’s a challenge. That’s why I like it so much,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

When it came to forecasting, De La Vega indicated that technology would play more of a role in shopping, while developers need to think about cutting back on parking. Walker, in the meantime, said that the forecast is positive, even as labor remains a challenge. And Granlund, returning to the technology discussion, indicated that retailers are still in the infancy cycle when it comes to pairing the internet with shopping habits. “I think what retailers are going through is positive,” he added. “I’m very optimistic about it.”

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