Part 1 of 2
SAN DIEGO-Retail Opportunity Investments Corp. keeps a diverse portfolio of shopping centers that is geographically balanced across the West Coast. We recently chatted with Stuart Tanz, CEO of the firm on why West Coast and why retail. According to Tanz, the strong fundamentals and high barriers-to-entry creates a compelling, risk-averse environment in which to acquire, own and operate shopping centers.
GlobeSt.com: In the past few years you've built a significant portfolio of retail centers up and down the West Coast. Why are you focused on the West Coast?
Stuart Tanz:We are focused on the West Coast for two reasons. First, the key, long-term fundamentals that drive the shopping center business—population growth and job growth, together with household and per capita income growth—all continue to be very strong across the West Coast. Second, for the past four decades our team has focused exclusively on the West Coast, during which time we have acquired, owned and operated over $5 billion of shopping centers. As a result, we know the market extremely well and, over the years, have developed extensive, invaluable relationships with key retailers and owners throughout the West Coast that we continue to capitalize on today in terms of growing our portfolio and business.
GlobeSt.com: And why retail?
Tanz:Within the retail industry, we specifically focus on shopping centers that feature retailers that provide basic consumer goods and services to the surrounding community—like supermarkets and drugstores. Basic consumer necessities, as opposed to more discretionary-type retail, are always in demand through all economic cycles, which in turn, provides our business with a reliable, stable and predictable revenue base from which to grow and build.
GlobeSt.com: Which markets do you favor and why?
Tanz: Our objective is to maintain a diverse portfolio of shopping centers that is geographically balanced across the West Coast. With this in mind, we focus on markets in all three West Coast states—California, Washington and Oregon. Within these states, we focus on demographically-strong, major metropolitans areas, including San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Seattle and Portland. Along with each of these markets being demographically-strong, the barriers-to-entry, in terms of new construction, are very high. This combination of strong fundamentals and high barriers-to-entry, we believe creates a compelling, risk-averse environment in which to acquire, own and operate shopping centers.
Check back in the next few days for more from Tanz, including the ideal tenant mix, ideal tenant, his thoughts on the acquisition environment, red flags to lookout for and his strategy to maximize ROIC value and grow market cap.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
