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Simon Property Unveils Norfolk Premium Outlets in Virginia

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Retail REIT – Simon Property Group, Inc. (SPG - Free Report) – recently opened the Norfolk Premium Outlets in Norfolk, VA. The move marks the company’s effort to enhance its portfolio with premium properties in vibrant locations.

Situated at the major crossroads of I-64 and Northampton Blvd., this 332,000 square-foot center will serve the Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Hampton Roads communities. The center will offer everyday savings of 25–65% on a wide range of apparel, footwear, fashion accessories, leather goods and specialty brands like Banana Republic Factory, Calvin Klein, Nike Factory Store (NKE - Free Report) and others. Also, later this year, stores of AIX Armani Exchange, Michael Kors, and Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Outlet are slated to open at this center.

The property is likely to draw high footfall as it enjoys solid trade area demographics. In fact, per the company’s website, the property’s trade area population is 1,122,694, while total daytime population is 1,137,177. Also, there are 414,679 trade area households with average household income of $74,441 annually and median age of 34.1 years.

Further, with a wide array of amenities, including covered walkways and spacious courtyards with seating, a fountain, a fireplace, public artwork, access to a child's play area, dining options and outdoor café seating overlooking the lake among others, the property is expected to provide the crowd relaxing and entertaining options, beyond shopping.

Notably, at a time when increasing consumer purchases through the Internet have emerged as a pressing concern for retail REITs, Simon Property is making concerted efforts to make its property stand out from the rest.

Moreover, at the end of first-quarter 2017, Simon Property had redevelopment and expansion projects in progress at 25 properties across the U.S., Canada and Europe. The company's share of the costs of all new development and redevelopment projects under construction at quarter end was around $1.7 billion. Additionally, over the last five years, the retail REIT invested over $5 billion in development projects and intends to spend around $1 billion each in 2017 and 2018. With such a huge pipeline, the company is well poised to effectively leverage the improving spending habits of wealthier customers amid an improving economy.

Currently, Simon Property has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Further, over the past one month, shares of Simon Property gained 5.4%, outperforming 3.9% growth registered by the REIT and Equity Trust – Retail industry.



Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked stocks in the REIT space include Liberty Property Trust and PS Business Parks, Inc. . Both the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Liberty Property Trust and PS Business Parks have long-term growth rates of 6% and 5%, respectively.

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