Josh Poag on getting deals done in a challenging market

November 29, 2023

Chain Store Age
By: Al Urbanski

Faced with ongoing uncertainty, unfavorable macroeconomic fundamentals, and the development headwinds that come with unpredictable and challenging market conditions, it’s not surprising that the pipeline of ground-up developments has slowed considerably.

That trend has been especially pronounced with lifestyle center projects, where the inherent size and complexity increases the degree of difficulty and creates tighter margins. Today there are few operators in this highly specialized space that can identify and capitalize on promising opportunities for ground-up lifestyle center projects. It helps, of course, if you are a company with a rich pedigree in doing just that: an industry institution that not only developed the nation’s first lifestyle center, but quite literally invented the term.

That is Poag Development Group, and no one familiar with Poag’s work would be surprised to learn that it is indeed one of the few commercial real estate developers bringing ground-up lifestyle centers to life. While the Memphis-based developer continues to acquire existing properties and leverage its redevelopment expertise, Poag’s ground-up bona fides are in evidence in a bold new project in Omaha.