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Shopping Centers Today -> December 2001
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TWO CONFERENCES SHARE THEME OF RECOVERY
Bouncing back, whether from terrorist attacks or economic woes, was the dominant theme at both the Western Division Conference and Dealmaking, and the Southeast Conference and Dealmaking, both held in October.
If the mood was a bit more subdued at the California meeting, the first major ICSC dealmaking event since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the focus was nevertheless on getting back to business. Nearly 3,000 people attended the conference, held in Palm Springs, matching last year’s attendance, and dealmaking was busy throughout the two-day meeting.
“This is what we do; we meet, we talk, we travel, we deal,” said ICSC Chairman John Ingram in his opening remarks.
The attacks were recalled in the opening session, which began with the singing of “God Bless America,” led by Wayne Poe, senior leasing director of Laguna Niguel, Calif.-based Creative Leasing Strategies, and Tamra C. Greenlee, senior vice president of Santa Ana, Calif.-based ICI Development Co. Ingram offered condolences to Westfield America, which managed the retail complex under the World Trade Center and lost a staff member in the attack, and he discussed the state of the shopping center industry in a very different world, one he admitted he had yet to come to grips with.
Even before the attacks, consumer confidence, which had been propping up a steadily weakening economy, was at an eight-year low, and certain categories were soft.
“I would regard Sept. 11 as the largest single individual shock the economy has experienced in 100 years; it is contracting at the fastest rate ever,” said Donald H. Straszheim, vice chairman of the Milken Institute, Santa Monica, Calif.
But speakers at both conferences found spots of optimism. Ingram, who also is vice chairman of The Mills Corp., reported that three of his Arlington, Va.-based firm’s centers did not lose any sales in September, and that all are now back to projections. Some retailers such as Wal-Mart have announced expansion plans, and federal assistance to airlines is bound to produce a ripple effect throughout the economy, he said.
The Federal Reserve Board has cut interest rates to their lowest levels in nearly 40 years, and spreads are extremely attractive. With the 30-day London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) at 2.5%, borrowers paying 200 basis points over LIBOR are now paying just 4.5% in interest.
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