First Real Estate - James Taylor, Town Square Real Estate
About James Taylor
James Taylor, CEO of Brixmor Property Group, has described the open-air retail sector as benefiting from strong fundamentals, citing "no new supply" combined with "robust demand" from retailers who have recognized the role of physical stores in serving customers. He has characterized tenant disruption as an opportunity to "bring in better tenants at better rent," noting that struggling tenants do little for a shopping center and can be replaced with tenants that drive more traffic and higher rents. Taylor stated that Brixmor has been increasingly active on the acquisition and disposition front, with about $200 to $300 million under control and expectations for that figure to grow. Taylor has highlighted Brixmor's strategy of clustering investments in specific markets and reinvesting capital into existing properties. He cited examples such as the Shops at Palm Lakes in North Miami, where the company converted an older grocery store to a more relevant concept, replaced a dark Kmart with LA Fitness and dd's Discounts, and added outparcels, generating an incremental 8% return on $31 million invested. In Venice, Florida, he noted a $9 million investment at an incremental 11% return, creating over $8 million in additional value. Taylor has also emphasized the company's purpose of creating centers that serve as the heart of their communitiesholistic.