ED Now

Aaron N. Gruen of Gruen Gruen + Associates shares his 2025 Economic and Real Estate Outlook with ED Now.

Communities, developers, and real estate asset managers will continue to need to reimagine and reinvent shopping malls into mixed-use redevelopments. The availability of large amounts of land, building space, parking capacity, and typically superior access to roadway connections, provides the physical resources to transform malls from predominantly single-use spaces to a dramatically more varied mix of uses.

Aaron N. Gruen of Gruen Gruen + Associates—an urban economics, market research, housing and land use policy, and pre-development services firm—shares his annual economic and real estate outlook with ED Now.

The Lay of The Land: Pandemic Impacts on Real Estate and Economic Developers’ Responses is a three-part series from IEDC’s Economic Development Research Partners (EDRP) that examines today’s real estate realities and economic developers’ responses to them. The third brief focuses on tools, strategies, and resources for real estate and economic development. It includes an assessment of housing and industrial development and outlines emerging strategies EDOs can use to meet demand. The first step for EDOs getting involved in any type of new real estate investment is completing a needs assessment for the region. A needs assessment outlines the strengths and weaknesses of a community and market supply and demand, which ...

IEDC’s 2022 Leadership Summit will be held January 30 to February 1 in Coachella, Calif. Here are some of the exciting economic development-related projects happening in the Coachella Valley. Riverside County The COACHELLA VALLEY ARENA is a $250-million, 44-acre entertainment development that will be home to the American Hockey League Firebirds, offer more than 200 sports and concert events, and have a $32-million annual impact on the region. The DESERT INTERNATIONAL HORSE PARK has expanded with 20,000 horses on site and $3.5 million in prize money which will generate more than $20 million in local economic impact. The THERMAL BEACH CLUB is a proposed private surf park-anchored development on 2K acres of land with a 22-acre ...

Prospects for shopping malls post-Covid are mixed. On the one hand, the pandemic has accelerated the expansion of e-commerce, a trend that will likely continue beyond the crisis. The same pandemic, however, has also stirred talks of a “renaissance of malls” as people become more eager to gather in public spaces and spend money after more than a year of lockdowns and social distancing. A future for shopping malls exists for those willing to transform.

Last year malls were reinventing themselves with dining, entertainment, and service anchors – microbreweries, gaming lounges, medical clinics, yoga studios, and gyms – all of which have been adversely affected by social distancing rules. What are malls and retail centers doing now to stay in business? Two examples in Wilmington, N.C., show that adaptation is essential. Mayfaire Town Center had to temporarily close a movie theatre and trampoline park and is now filing for bankruptcy. Across town, Independence Mall is transforming into an indoor-outdoor shopping center and will be anchored by a Lidl, Five Below, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, which follows the trend of supermarkets and discount stores moving into malls. Malls ...

It seems every month we hear about more retailers closing their doors or downsizing in a big way. Toys “R” Us, GNC, Payless ShoeSource and many others come to mind. Last week, cultural icon Macy’s announced it would shutter 125 stores and lay off about 2,000 workers. No doubt these retailers have suffered due to the continued growth of online shopping. With amenities including free shipping, free returns, almost limitless selection, 24/7 access and aggressive pricing, it’s certainly difficult for brick-and-mortar stores to compete.