MIAMI—The International Council of Shopping Center's convention coming to Las Vegas in less than a month, we decided to sit down with one an executive from one of the leading real estate investment trusts in the shopping center space to discuss the state of the industry. We caught up with Glenn Cohen, CFO of Kimco Realty, to get his take on the biggest challenges for retailers in 2013. In part one of this exclusive interview, he also discussed his views on the economy as it relates to commercial real estate and his predictions for the pace and depth of recovery in 2013.

GlobeSt.com: What are the biggest challenges we face this year?

Cohen: One of Kimco's biggest concerns as a major owner of retail real estate is the economic health of the consumer. For a necessity-based neighborhood and community shopping center business like ours, the consumer's the key to the sale, and increased foot traffic to our retailers results in higher rents over time. While the consumer is currently somewhat resilient, I think there are some challenges that will result from the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, which will take some time to play out.