The REIT just announced a partnership with Freight Farms, a Boston-based company that retrofits shipping containers with vertical farming technology that can yield acres' worth of produce. The containers, which will be located in unused parking spaces in select Federal Realty shopping centers, will be rented to freight farmers. The farmers, in turn, will have the opportunity to partner with the restaurants and grocery stores in the shopping centers — taking advantage of the burgeoning farm to table movement.

“Finding the right location is a major hurdle for most new farmers,” Caroline Katsiroubas, Freight Farms' marketing director said in a prepared statement. “By partnering up with Federal Realty, we are eliminating a large barrier to entry for individuals looking to grow fresh produce for their local communities.”

The first farm is expected to begin operating this spring.

ROCKVILLE, MD–2017 has not, by any metric, been a good year for retail REITs with some regional mall companies down by 20% so far, thanks to multiple store closures and retailer bankruptcies.

Federal Realty Investment Trust, like many of its counterparts, has experienced its share of disappearing tenants. “Sports Authority is gone, A&P, Hancock Fabrics, Hudson Trail boxes are gone,” CEO Don Woods said in the REIT's third quarter 2016 earnings call. “And they were all in and rent paying a year ago.”

The REIT is making, or has made, all the traditional moves a company makes in this situation: it has fortified its balance sheet, it has focused on top-quality real estate only, it is stepping up its mixed-use development. Another ploy malls use to increase traffic and backfill space is the recruitment of nontraditional tenants: schools, urgent care facilities, pop up “experiences” and varied entertainment options can now be found in malls across the US.

And now, per a new Federal Realty partnership, urban farms in shipping containers located in the parking lot.

The REIT just announced a partnership with Freight Farms, a Boston-based company that retrofits shipping containers with vertical farming technology that can yield acres' worth of produce. The containers, which will be located in unused parking spaces in select Federal Realty shopping centers, will be rented to freight farmers. The farmers, in turn, will have the opportunity to partner with the restaurants and grocery stores in the shopping centers — taking advantage of the burgeoning farm to table movement.

“Finding the right location is a major hurdle for most new farmers,” Caroline Katsiroubas, Freight Farms' marketing director said in a prepared statement. “By partnering up with Federal Realty, we are eliminating a large barrier to entry for individuals looking to grow fresh produce for their local communities.”

The first farm is expected to begin operating this spring.