{"id":7487,"date":"2026-08-22T12:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7487"},"modified":"2026-08-22T12:06:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:06:17","slug":"are-malls-dead-no-theyre-a-top-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7487","title":{"rendered":"Are malls dead? No, they\u2019re a top investment"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><iframe allow=\"geolocation\" allowfullscreen=\"yes\" allowtransparency=\"1\" class=\"iframe\" height=\"550px\" id=\"6a88f7362e605\" loading=\"lazy\" scrolling=\"yes\" src=\"https:\/\/flo.uri.sh\/visualisation\/29960476\/embed\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Malls are a hot property. Who knew?<\/p>\n<p>Investors in commercial real estate are enjoying a bit of an industry revival in 2026 after a four-year slump.\u00a0That\u2019s what my trusty spreadsheet found when it reviewed July\u2019s Green Street investment performance report for 12 slices of \u201cinstitutional\u201d properties nationwide \u2014 primarily large investments controlled by major property owners. Green Street\u2019s main property index was up 5% in the past year, though it remains 13% off its 2022 peak.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7485\">Options emerge for empty retail space in Walnut Creek after RH store drops out<\/a><\/p>\n<p>But the price recovery was not uniform. And the past year\u2019s best real estate investments, according to Green Street, could be seen as a signal of hope for any investor betting on a reversal of fortunes.<\/p>\n<p>Topping the list? The mall. Yes, those shopping centers everyone thought were on life support are making a comeback.<\/p>\n<p>Green Street says mall values rose 12% in the past year \u2013 the top result among the 12 niches tracked. And mall values are 3% above the 2022 peak, also the industry\u2019s top results as the only price-gaining niche in these four years.<\/p>\n<p>Why? Many struggling malls have closed or been torn down. At the same time, shoppers with money in their pockets are getting bored with online shopping and heading back to brick-and-mortar stores. That shift is helping malls that offer a good mix of shops, restaurants and entertainment.<\/p>\n<p>This retailing revival, at least in investors\u2019 eyes, is reinforced by the second-best performer on Green Street\u2019s rankings: strip malls, the smaller cousins of the giant shopping hubs.<\/p>\n<p>Neighborhood shopping centers saw their values climb 9% over the past year and are now just 2% shy of their 2022 high. Strip mall owners have bounced back by filling empty spaces with all kinds of services, from doctor\u2019s offices to gyms to beauty salons.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Not all investors in retail locations have enjoyed a bounce-back from their lows.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7483\">Jarvis: Is lettuce safe? Probably. Will cyclospora spur change? Hopefully.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Then there are the so-called \u201cnet lease\u201d properties, primarily the standalone shops you see in shopping center parking lots. These real estate bets had the second-worst performance this year.<\/p>\n<p>Because these properties depend on just one tenant, they\u2019re especially sensitive to economic ups and downs. The slump in drugstores, for example, has really hurt this group.<\/p>\n<p>So, net-lease real estate values were up only 1% in the past year \u2013 second-worst among the 12 niches \u2013 and have tumbled 18% from the 2022 peak \u2013 the fourth-worst dip.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>By the way, the worst-performing commercial real estate niche?\u00a0Apartments, with flat values in the year.<\/p>\n<p>Rental housing is the lone asset group that saw no value gains over those 12 months. And apartment values are down 19% in four years, the industry\u2019s third-biggest decline.<\/p>\n<p><em>Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7481\">San Jose police arrest man suspected of killing two prep football players from Fairfield and El Cerrito<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Green Street says mall values rose 12% in the past year \u2013 the top result among the 12 niches tracked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Are malls dead? 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