Most people see the finished project
What they don’t see is how much risk sits behind each lease, each tenant mix, each decision about where a brand shows up.
In this conversation on "Behind the Lease", Matthew Clark with Colliers walks through that reality... shaped by decades in retail real estate, from early infill work to leading large-scale mixed-use development.
A few things that stood out:
👉Merchandising isn’t aesthetic... it directly impacts rent, demand, and how a place functions day to day
👉“Location” is rarely about a single corner... it’s about market, neighbors, and tradeoffs
👉The best projects are intentional about what they don’t include
👉And over time, small decisions in tenant mix compound into something much bigger... good or bad
There’s also a practical look at where Jacksonville sits today, and why slower growth has, in some ways, been an advantage.
For anyone working in urban retail or mixed-use, it’s a useful reminder that good retail doesn’t happen by accident. It’s assembled, piece by piece.