A Peek Inside the World Of Development

Implications: This article provides one of the most accurate and insightful snapshots of the realities of how today's strip shopping centers are developed. Although it relates to a specific suburban location in the Chicago Metropolitan area, it reflects an all-to-common reality of how developers treat anchor stores (or more accurately,how anchor stores take advantage of their bargaining power) all over the United States.

Analysis: I encourage all analyst who have the slightest interest in learning the inner workings of shopping center development to read this article. It reveals the actual prices being paid for raw land in today's marketplace. It reveals the actual subsidies granted to powerful anchor stores such as Wal-Mart. It also reveals the actual timelines of a typical "power strip" development.

What makes this innocent appearing article by a local reporter in a suburban newspaper so interesting to GLG readers is, in my opinion, the fact that it is such an accurate portrayal of what actually goes on behind the scenes during the pre-development period on a typical development. It is also very rare to see such a candid picture of the actual prices paid for land because most developers and retailers go to great lengths to hide this information from the tax accessor, competitors and general public.