For much of the past decade, the dominant narrative around
retail real estate was one of inevitable decline. E-commerce would
swallow physical stores. Department stores were facing existential
pressure. At the RECM 2026 conference, a panel of retail real
estate investors made a compelling case that most of that narrative
was simply wrong — and that the capital markets are now
catching up to what the data has shown all along.
The panel featured Kevin McCrain, CEO of GGP, and Martha Kelley,
a managing director at Bain Capital Real Estate. Moderated by Sher
Hafeez, senior managing director of Investment Banking at JLL,
their conversation covered the mispricing of retail assets, the
enduring logic of omnichannel strategies, tenant relationships, and
artificial intelligence.
