ICSC RECon 2014 lived up to the hype of being a busy convention packed with retailers and developers looking for their next deals.

Courtney Auther Van Loo is Associate Director | Retail Properties at Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona, Inc.
Courtney Auther Van Loo is Associate Director | Retail Properties at Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona, Inc.

More than 35,000 professionals gathered in Las Vegas to attend the show and the many cocktail parties that brokerage firms and owners host across the Strip.

Common trends continued to be smaller retail prototypes, redevelopments, mixed-use projects, outlet centers and social media. Multiple emails were sent out reminding attendees to use their social media tools to get the word out about RECON and company updates.

Arizona developers were back showcasing new developments as well as redevelopments; more so than in the previous few years. Multiple conversations with landlords discussed ways to break up larger vacant spaces to accommodate smaller uses and the right co-tenancy.

Many landlords continue to focus on ways to redevelop their current projects in order to bring more traffic and a stronger, more unique tenant mix.

The buzz continued from out-of-state developers looking to attract Arizona restaurant operators to their proposed projects as they have read and seen the success of Arizona restaurants and projects anchored by local operators.

Although some retailers continue to keep Arizona off their radar, there was an increased interest in tenants looking to expand their operations in Arizona as they see the market continuing to strengthen. Much of the interest was from restaurant operators and fitness users. There was additional interest from entertainment and grocery concepts not yet in the Arizona market.