For example, Circuit City rejected two leases with One Liberty as part of its bankruptcy proceedings in December 2008, and then rejected its remaining three leases with the company this month.

"We cannot project how our tenants will fare during the continued economic uncertainty," Callan says in One Liberty's earnings release. "We expect that consumer confidence and spending will continue to decline and that there will be continuing pressure on our retail tenants. As a result, we intend to proceed cautiously with new investments and will monitor our portfolio carefully."

In other single-user retail-related news, Michael Ashner, chairman and chief executive officer of Winthrop Realty Trust and former Lexington Realty Trust executive chairman, is among five candidates hedge fund manager Bill Ackman plans to nominate for election to Target Corp.'s board of directors.

Last year Ackman, a frequent stockholder activist and the founder of Pershing Square Capital Management LP, unsuccessfully urged the Minneapolis-based retailer to spin off the land under its buildings into a separate company. The plan called for Target, which owns the majority of its real estate, to spin off the property in a REIT and lease back the dirt under long-term master ground leases. Now it appears Ackman is revisiting the prospective value of Target's real estate holdings by nominating Ashner for the board, along with himself and three other nominees who bring expertise in food retailing, credit card business and corporate finance.

"We think, and we've thought for a while, that it's a very significant opportunity in Target's real estate business. It's not something that the market gives Target any credit for," Ackman told a Bloomberg News reporter in an interview on March 16. "We had developed a transaction that we think would create a fair amount of value, which so far we've not been successful convincing the company. But I think part of that is that there's no one on the board with any real estate background."

Several years ago Ashner headed up another REIT, Newkirk Realty Trust, which owned a portfolio of triple-net lease properties. In late 2006, Newkirk merged with what was then called Lexington Corporate Properties Trust. The net lease REIT was renamed Lexington Realty Trust and Ashner served as its executive chairman and director of strategic acquisitions until early last year. Lexington and Winthrop continue to be affiliated through a debt investment joint venture.

"I think he could certainly give the board perspective from a real estate person's point of view as to whether our strategy or another one is a good idea, with respect to real estate for the company," Ackman says of Ashner in the Bloomberg interview.

Target responded that its board will nominate four current directors up for re-election, saying that is in the best interest of the company's shareholders. "We are disappointed that Pershing Square has decided to pursue a costly and disruptive proxy contest, especially in light of our previous dialogue," Target says in an announcement. "Target has a long history of being responsive to shareholders and has engaged in numerous discussions with Pershing Square over a 20-month period."