CBRE has launched a specialized team to help property owners reposition traditional malls by harnessing the company's proprietary local intelligence tech.

The team will be led by Mark Hunter, a managing director of CBRE's Mall and Large Format practice area, together with Todd Caruso, senior managing director of Retail Investor Services. Hunter and Caruso each bring more than 30 years of experience to their roles: Hunter has spent his career working alongside some of the CRE industry's largest mall investors on leasing, asset management and development projects, while Caruso oversees the company's property management and investor leasing business in the Americas.

 The new group will use the firm's local intelligence technology to assess demand for complementary uses or product types, including a property's surrounding demographics, retail spending information, logistics value, segmentation, employment data, customer traffic patterns, and competitive landscapes, the firm said in a statement.   "This data can help owners develop innovative strategies to support complementary uses to retail and create live, work and play environments," Hunter said. "Using a data-based approach, mall owners are successfully repositioning properties for a wide range of uses including multifamily, hotel, office, healthcare, logistics or life sciences. There's never been a time where there was more opportunity for mall owners to get creative in order to maximize value."