CREJ - Retail Properties Quarterly - August 2016
Approximately six years ago, my boss asked me to attend a luncheon hosted by the Rocky Mountain Shopping Center Association. The topic was water conservation for shopping center landscapes. One of my interests is sustainable practices in real estate development, and I had spent the past year implementing smart irrigation controllers at shopping centers. Although I had work that needed to be done, I decided to take an hour to learn something and meet with like-minded professionals. After the first hour, I was hooked. The venue was intimate, people were getting to know each other and it felt like a community. Now it is 2016 and I am proudly serving the second year of my term as the president of the RMSCA. Maintaining professional knowledge of our industry and networking is a great aide for company and professional growth. Being a member of the RMSCA has delivered more return on investment than any other tool in my business. Both financially and in nonmonetary terms, the human relationships have built a framework for the industry that I am in and allowed me to become a better asset to my employer. At the RMSCA, we value each person’s time and contribution by providing a forum for the mutually beneficial exchange of information among all shopping center professionals serving the Colorado retail real estate industry. A key component, like many organizations, is relevant educational topics, such as water conservation in shopping center landscapes that first introduced me to the organization. At the beginning of each year, Tom Clark, CEO of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. and executive vice president of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, presents the Colorado economic forecast. The presentations highlight the top reasons the Denver metropolitan region is growing and succeeding. Attendees can take the statistics back to their organization armed with additional data to support a new project, capital investment to an existing center or negotiate a stronger position with a new tenant to the market. While industry professionals often have anecdotal information or spend hours researching to gather the data, it is beneficial to have a one hour presentation by an expert. Shopping centers often serve as quasi-public spaces. They are unrestricted with large numbers of people coming and going. This places a significant responsibility on owners and management of shopping centers to protect the asset, the businesses and the general public. Recently, Cherry Creek Shopping Center’s General Manager Nick LeMasters presented on emergency preparedness at shopping centers. As a case study, LeMasters and members of his team described how they practiced an active shooter scenario that included law enforcement and community partners. He emphasized the value of engaging with your law enforcement and community partners on a regular basis in order to establish a strong relationship. While this is common sense, it is a good reminder that relationships are key in the real estate business, not only among other real estate professionals, but also with the community at large. A significant component to relationship building and community engagement is social media. In August, Lisa Zetah will present on social media and the evolution in the use of marketing for shopping centers. Zetah’s 20 years within the real estate industry as a broker and marketing director working for developers and shopping centers gives her an inside perspective on the benefits and challenges facing shopping center management when using the vast array of social media tools. I personally look forward to implementing and sharing with others what I learn from Zetah. This year will be our third annual Star Awards for Retail Real Estate Excellence. Peers can nominate retail operators, developers and operating shopping centers for the value they bring to the local community. In 2015, the RMSCA independent judges recognized retailers, service providers and shopping centers for their design, construction and marketing. RMSCA currently is accepting nominations for the 2016 Star Awards. With all of the activity in the market, it will be exciting to see a compilation of the top retail real estate in the industry. Beyond the pertinent information gained by attending the lunch-and-earn sessions presented by the RMSCA, the most valuable resource is building relationships. As a result of participating in RMSCA, I have a trusted network of colleagues and service providers beyond those established from my desk that I can reach out to as a peer advisory group. As I reflect back to the first lunch session six years ago and think about the relationships built and knowledge gained, I am grateful to RMSCA for providing me with invaluable experiences that have allowed me to be an even stronger asset to my company and to grow personally and professionally. I would like to personally invite you to join us at our next RMSCA meeting Aug. 18 at the Wellshire Inn, where we will be expanding our knowledge of best practices in social media.