IAN RITTER: Are any certain regions of the country performing
better than others, or are we in a property-by-property world
right now?
BILL ROSE: I think 2012 was that earmark of tertiary markets
being back and financing is supportive of those trades. Certainly
yield was more enticing in tertiary markets. When we look at the
United States, the coasts, Northeast and Southwest remain domi-
nant markets. With investment sales of shopping centers, the West
dominates investor activity with about $15 billion of sales occur-
ring last year, followed by the Northeast corridor. Chicagoland is
also very solid with $4 billion in trades. This wasn’t the case two
years ago. Many investors weren’t sure about the middle parts of
the country, and today I think that’s changed dramatically. We’re
seeing very positive activity not just on the coasts, but also now in
the mid-section of the country, those major NFL cities.
THOMAS W. ROBERTS: We’re more product-driven than
region-driven. We think great real estate can be located in primary and secondary markets, as well as tertiary markets. We buy
a lot of single-tenant retail assets, so a great retailer in a good
