(Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.)

CLEVELAND-Forest City's retail portfolio continues to perform the best in the company's diverse portfolio, said Charles Ratner, the president and chief executive officer of the firm at the NAREIT conference in New York City. "That has been the case for several years now," he says.

During the company's first quarter, retail led all property types at Forest City with a 7% jump year-over-year in net operating income. Retail occupancy rates also increased, from 93.9%, to 94.3%. However, Forest City's rental-residential occupancies made the greatest leap, from 93% to 94.8%.

During the first quarter, Forest City broke ground on one retail project, the 972,000-sf Orchard Town Center, a Main Street-style development in the Denver suburb of Westminster, which will be anchored by AMC Theaters, J.C. Penney, Macy's and Target.