Michael Glimcher, vice chairman and CEO of WP Glimcher (NYSE: GRT), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview during REITWeek 2015: NAREIT’s Investor Forum, held in New York.
Glimcher helped oversee the merger between Glimcher Realty Trust and Washington Prime in 2014 that led to the formation of WP Glimcher in January. Glimcher said the newly formed company is building across all retail sectors.
“The lines have been blurred for retailers today,” he said. According to Glimcher, tenants are more interested now in leasing in the best retail properties in markets, not being in a specific type of property, such as malls or power centers.
Glimcher also hailed the new personnel additions being made to WP Glimcher’s staff.
“We’re attracting a lot of talent into this new company,” Glimcher said. “Clearly, people who know the business know this is the place to be.”
With regarding to the firm’s leasing platform, the company is seeing “a tremendous amount of activity,” Glimcher remarked.
“I see the pipeline building, I see the deal flow increasing exponentially and I’m very excited about what happens next as far as rent growth and occupancy growth go,” Glimcher said.
Additionally, WP Glimcher is using redevelopment to help grow the value of its portfolio, Glimcher said. Most of these projects are in the range of $3 million to $5 million with the intention of “refreshing” the assets, according to Glimcher.
“Not only do [the redevelopment projects] drive great returns on the dollars that are spent, but they also make the underlying asset better,” he said.