Our recent RECon coverage had plenty of good news: store closures aren't as prevelant, development is slowly coming back and there certainly isn't a lack of buyers in the market. But that doesn't mean there aren't a few challenges in the retail real estate sector. Tenants and landlords, in some cases, are still having trouble finding common ground, though there are buyers there is a lack of attractive product and it's tough to get financing for development. Paul Barile, director of capital markets in Transwestern's Chicago office, told us about some of these hurdles.

GlobeSt.com: Was RECon an indicator of a retail real estate rebound in any way?

Paul Barile: I don't think we've completely bounced back, but we are making progress. People were more positive. We still have a little bit of a disconnect between what tenants want to pay in rent and what developers need to start new projects. But overall the attitude was positive. People seemed busy, and I didn't hear anything negative at all.