REAL ESTATE NEWS

LAS VEGAS—At this year's ICSC Las Vegas 2026 conference, experts agree that retail is evolving into a more operationally sophisticated, service-oriented and investment-attractive asset class. From logistics-driven site selection to the rise of experiential tenants and renewed institutional capital flows, industry leaders tell GlobeSt.com that the sector is entering a structurally different phase than the one investors faced just a few years ago.

Executives at CBRE, for example, say the sector's momentum is being fueled by a combination of constrained supply, shifting consumer behavior and changing expectations around convenience.

Laura Barr, Americas retail leader at CBRE, told GlobeSt.com that brands are treating logistics as part of the customer experience rather than merely a backend operational function.

"Value is increasingly defined by proximity to the consumer, with 'last-touch' logistics driving decisions," Barr said. "Consumer patience for friction has essentially hit zero. Same-day delivery, seamless returns and real-time tracking are fairly table stakes."

Barr noted that the implications for retail real estate are significant as brands compete not only on products, but on fulfillment speed and convenience. In many markets, last mile in the process has evolved into what she described as a "last-touch" strategy — one that blends industrial and retail considerations more closely than ever before.

"The experience of receiving something can be as powerful as the thing itself," she said.

That operational shift comes as investment capital is rapidly flowing back into retail assets. According to CBRE, U.S. retail property sales climbed 26% to $71.6 billion in 2025, while institutional bid volume has surged 102% over the past two years. REIT bid volume increased 117% over the last couple of years. Moreover, the activity from both REITs and institutional investors is at its highest point since 2016.

Perhaps most notably, she explained, institutional investors that had largely avoided retail in recent years are now actively pursuing categories once dominated by private capital, including unanchored strip centers.

CBRE's 2026 North American Investor Intentions Survey found that retail ranked among the top commercial real estate investment targets for 2026, trailing only multifamily and industrial assets.

At the property level, landlords are also continuing to reshape tenant mixes around experiences and services rather than traditional merchandise-driven retail.

Barr pointed to the growing importance of the "third place" — the social environment between home and work — as a defining force in leasing strategies.

"Nearly half of new tenants in major shopping centers are now experiential or service-based," she said, citing categories such as fitness studios, entertainment venues and coworking concepts. "Landlords are making the same bet."

The broader market fundamentals also continue to support landlord confidence despite ongoing economic uncertainty. According to Ebere Anokute, America's head of retail research at CBRE, national retail availability remains near historic lows at 4.9%, even after several major retailer bankruptcies returned space to the market earlier this year.

"Net absorption has remained positive for three consecutive quarters, indicating that demand is outpacing the space coming back online," Anokute tells GlobeSt.com.

At the same time, construction completions are at their lowest levels since CBRE began tracking the sector in 2005 — a dynamic helping drive rent growth and attracting additional investor interest.

"This combination of measured supply, disciplined development and capital returning to the sector points to a structural undersupply story that should support retail real estate performance over the next several years," he said.

Regionally, however, growth patterns are becoming increasingly concentrated.

Sun Belt markets continue to lead the nation in both retail construction and absorption activity, with six Texas markets accounting for roughly 30% of all new retail construction over the past year, according to CBRE.

Meanwhile, suburban retail continues to outperform downtown locations as hybrid work patterns reshape consumer traffic and spending habits. Since 2022, suburban retail availability has tightened by 91 basis points, while downtown availability has increased by 120 basis points.

Looking ahead, Anokute said necessity-based and service-oriented tenants are expected to remain among the most active retail users.

"We expect to see sustained demand coming from categories like grocery, food users, and health and wellness," he said, noting that consumers are increasingly prioritizing essential spending and services over discretionary goods purchases.

Taken together, the trends discussed at ICSC Las Vegas suggest the retail sector's recovery story is evolving into something more durable: a fundamentally supply-constrained, experience-driven and logistics-enabled market that is attracting both retailers and institutional investors back to the space.

Check back with GlobeSt.com for more as we lead up to the event and check out the stories below you might have missed.

ICSC Las Vegas Preview: 'Frictional Leasing' Reshapes Hunt for Prime Retail Space

Grocery-Anchored Centers Loosen Rules to Backfill Empty Space

Retail Investors Shift Focus to Reliable Returns and Tight Supply

Capital Returns to Shopping Centers as Market Conditions Improve

Neighborhood Retail Gains Momentum Ahead of ICSC Las Vegas

Retail Real Estate Shifts Toward Smaller Stores and Prime Locations

Source: GlobeSt/ALM