Finding “The One”: Cresa Puts Retail Real Estate Partnerships to the Test at RetailSpaces

Finding the perfect retail real estate partner can feel a lot like dating. There are plenty of options, but finding the right fit? That's another story.

At RetailSpaces, Cresa brought a playful twist to a serious retail challenge with Finding “The One”: The Perfect Retail Real Estate Match, an interactive, game-show-style session exploring what it really takes to scale a retail brand successfully.

Representing two fast-growing concepts, Hannah Wolf of FACE FOUNDRIÉ and Michael Gavakis of JETSET Pilates played the decision-makers, putting four Cresa experts to the test:

• Marcus Cook, Managing Principal, Retail — The Broker
• Tricia Trester, President, Global Portfolio Solutions — The Portfolio Strategist
• Kat Reyes, Vice President, Project & Development Services — The Project Manager
• Jacqueline Loftis, Managing Principal, Project & Development Services — The Program Manager

How Do You Protect the Brand Without Overwhelming Franchisees?

Gavakis opened with a familiar franchise challenge: Operators are investing significant time and money, but they aren’t construction experts. How do you support them without compromising brand standards?

For Reyes, project management means acting as an extension of the brand—delivering consistent locations while freeing franchisees to focus on hiring, marketing, and building community relationships.

“So they’re building all of that while we build their physical location,” she explained.

When Wolf later asked how to keep operators from chasing vendors and managing construction details, Reyes and Loftis emphasized a clear playbook, shared standards, and defined responsibilities across headquarters, architects, contractors, and other partners.

Where Should You Grow—and Which Sites Aren’t Worth Chasing?

Wolf wanted to know how retailers can enter new markets without wasting time on spaces that don’t fit.

Cook’s starting point? Understand what makes existing locations successful. That means examining demographics, psychographics, competition, and the real estate criteria that support the concept.

“What we don’t do is just send you a list of available spaces and say you’re on your own,” he said.

Trester added that combining a retailer’s business knowledge with a partner’s understanding of local market conditions can uncover opportunities the brand hasn’t considered. Availability alone doesn’t make a site the right fit.

Can You Open Faster and Spend Less Without Creating More Risk?

Wolf’s next question captured a familiar tension: How do you accelerate openings and reduce costs without sacrificing quality?

Loftis argued that the answer starts before construction. Program management looks across the next one, two, or three years of growth, identifying coordination gaps that might otherwise surface as missed opening dates.

Bringing that expertise into market searches and landlord negotiations allows teams to address zoning, permitting, and other requirements while deals are still taking shape.

Reyes reinforced the need to align vendors, stakeholders, and decisions. Opening faster starts with earlier coordination—not simply pushing harder once construction begins.

A Site Looks Promising. But Can You Actually Open There?

Gavakis pushed further: Once a location is identified, how do you determine whether you can build what you need, and when it can realistically open?

Cook was clear: A broker shouldn’t make that call alone. Construction costs, zoning, permitting, landlord requirements, and opening expectations all need to support the business plan.

Loftis emphasized bringing construction expertise into early discussions about due diligence, budgets, and tenant improvement allowances.

“We’re not deal killers,” she said. “We’re risk killers.”

Gavakis brought it back to the dating theme: “My broker and my project manager need to date before I sign the lease.”

How Do You Keep Lease Obligations From Falling Through the Cracks?

Keeping up with lease expirations was another concern for Gavakis. Trester’s response: Lease administration is much more than tracking dates.

It includes reviewing common-area maintenance reconciliations, checking landlord charges, calculating percentage rent, and monitoring critical deadlines. Missing an option deadline, she warned, can jeopardize a retailer’s ability to retain a location.

Signing the lease isn’t the finish line. Internal teams and external partners need to keep those obligations visible as the portfolio grows.

When Should You Renew, Renegotiate, Relocate, or Exit?

Wolf widened the lens: Some locations are thriving, others are struggling, and new markets are calling. How should a retailer decide what comes next?

Cook stressed that every lease decision needs to support the broader portfolio strategy, whether that means expanding, renewing, renegotiating, relocating, or having the harder conversation about an exit.

Trester added that technology can help connect each location’s business plan with current market conditions and keep an evolving strategy visible.

The next opening deserves attention. So do the locations already operating.

So, Who Was “The One”?

After putting each potential partner through their paces, Wolf and Gavakis reached a conclusion: There wasn't just one perfect match.

They needed the entire team.

The session's message was simple: Successful retail expansion isn't about finding another vendor. It's about finding partners who work together, understand the bigger picture, and help turn ambitious growth plans into actual store openings.

And when it comes to retail real estate, that's a match worth keeping.