By Kenneth Katz, principal at Baker Katz Growth and innovation opportunities remain strong in Texas, despite ongoing changes in the retail sector. True potential often emerges not just from redeveloping individual buildings, but also from reimagining the future of entire communities. Identifying underutilized retail assets where others see stagnation — and meticulously transforming them into vibrant, value-generating destinations — is key to successful retail redevelopment projects. At its core, redevelopment is a response to change. When commercial properties are first built, they are typically developed to meet a market’s needs in terms of an appropriate tenant mix, functional layouts, attractive aesthetics and other key attributes. Over time, however, as communities evolve, populations shift, infrastructure expands and tenant preferences and tastes change, previously optimized projects can gradually underperform. These shifts create opportunities for thoughtful redevelopment. Identifying Strong Candidates Properties that no longer meet the desires or needs of a community are often the strongest candidates for redevelopment. These can include projects with outdated configurations, limited accessibility due to changes in roadways or high vacancy rates from tenant relocations or bankruptcies. Other high-potential properties may suffer from deferred maintenance that has reduced occupancy and rents or from aesthetic obsolescence that discourages both …
