GlobeSt.com: What are those scenarios right now? What do you like that you see expanding?

Maloney: The food category is always going to be strong and continues to be strong. What we challenge our leasing people to do is go out and find what's hot in the market and what's missing in the market. When they go around and look at a particular property that we may be leasing we find out what else is in the area and what else is needed in the area. A lot of times we, believe it or not, hope that someone goes out because we might have a tenant that is looking to get into the market. The value tenants are very hot right now, like Dollar Tree and T.J. Maxx. They're looking to expand in the secondary markets. Value is still king, as much as we want some other categories to get better.

GlobeSt.com: Are you seeing shopping-center transactions in secondary markets?

Maloney: Where we were seeing nothing before, we are starting to see things happen. A lot of the servicers and the banks that own these assets are starting to move them off their books, so that's causing quite a few to hit the market. It's still not as robust as we want. We think RECon is going to be a great venue for new product hitting the market. Our investment-sales people have been looking at a lot of different properties and putting together a lot of offering memorandums. There is going to be a lot of properties shopped at the conference this year.

GlobeSt.com: What will the mood be like at RECon? Will it be upbeat?

Maloney:There is no question about it. We are sending about 200 people from Jones Lang LaSalle including a large international contingency. We really think it is going to be very busy and robust from the standpoint of excitement from retailers. Last year everybody was just looking for some good news, and we got a lot of good news. We just have to keep the momentum and good news continuing. Housing is going to be a real shot in the arm for us this year. It started late last year, and it has continued to improve. Things are starting to move, but it's the $300,000 to $500,000 starter-type homes in coastal markets where the recovery is happening.

GlobeSt.com: How is the consumer doing? Are people still worried?

Maloney:People are definitely still worried. The thing that causes the biggest problem is uncertainty, when it comes to retail sales. People have a tendency to go out and spend when they feel comfortable and their job and the rest of their family members are secure. When things are stable, then we can move forward, and they will go out and buy the things they want instead of the things they just need. Once we get into that “want” environment, where people go out and are impulse shopping – that's what we love, in the retail business.

Globest.com: JLL has announced some major new hires this year in markets across the country. Is this your growth strategy?

Maloney: Like the retail sector overall, JLL Retail continues to evolve. In the past year, we've hired about a dozen local brokers in Florida, Texas, California and most recently Hawaii. Our national shopping center platform is rock solid – we are the largest third-party service provider. Our clients wanted us to bring that expertise to the local market level so we embarked on a strategy to hire the best retail brokers in select markets nationwide. The feedback from current and new clients has been extremely positive. JLL Retail will continue to grow by adding the best brokers and servicing our clients beyond their expectations.