When the 2008 global financial crisis hit with magnum force, ground-up retail development dropped into a seemingly bottomless pit.

The numbers compiled by ChainLinks Retail Advisors speak volumes (or lack thereof): Retail construction plummeted from 9 million to 12 million square feet of planned new construction space during the 2005 to 2007 timeframe, to the less than 700,000 square feet under construction today.

What’s a retail development company to do? Work with what you’ve got was the conclusion of companies such as DDR Corp., Kimco Realty and Weingarten Realty Investors. With no prospects for expanding their already vast retail portfolios thr