Building a blueprint for success in Commercial Real Estate

Industry experts webinar featuring Morguard, Oxford Properties, and PIER 39

The commercial real estate market is evolving rapidly and understanding how to stay competitive requires insight from leaders who are shaping the future of retail destinations, mixed-use assets, and tenant experience. In this exclusive Industry Experts webinar, Kinexio CEO David Fuller-Watts is joined by:

• Eilidh Fisher, National Retail Marketing Manager, Morguard
• Robert Horst, National Vice President, Retail REM, Oxford Properties
• Sina von Reitzenstein, Vice President of Leasing, PIER 39

Together, they explore how owners and operators can build a practical blueprint for success in commercial real estate over the next 12–24 months, leveraging technology, data, community engagement, and portfolio-wide strategy.

Understanding what “success” means in today’s CRE landscape

The panel begins by redefining success in commercial real estate – retail and mixed-use environments – is moving beyond NOI alone to focus on satisfaction, visitation, loyalty, and long-term asset vibrancy.

Key themes include:

• Creating destinations people choose to visit
• Supporting tenant success through strong partnerships
• Driving engagement and repeat visitation
• Maintaining brand affinity through memorable experiences
• Recognizing that the customer journey begins long before arrival on-site

Whether it’s the 11+ million annual visitors at PIER 39 or the leading luxury retailers at Yorkdale, the message is the same: experience and customer connection fuel performance.

The evolving role of retail mix and customer experience

Each speaker highlights the increasing importance of curating an authentic, relevant, and continuously evolving tenant mix.

What the panel emphasized:

• Authenticity drives loyalty. Morguard evaluates every decision through two lenses: elevate and authenticity.
• Think global, act local. Oxford standardizes frictionless experiences across its portfolio while tailoring events and activations to local communities.
• Unique experiences set destinations apart. PIER 39 thrives on its mix of locally owned businesses that create the “only in San Francisco” experience visitors expect.

A strong retail lineup is no longer just about category coverage, it’s about aligning with customer expectations and local culture.

Using data to drive strategy and optimize performance

Data-driven decision-making is a central pillar of success for all three organizations.

Insights shared in the discussion:

• Mobility data reveals shifting trade areas due to migration patterns and urban changes.
• Customer surveys, Wi-Fi prompts, and intercept studies offer ongoing, organic feedback loops.
• AI-enhanced search and product discovery help reduce friction and increase conversion.
• Cross-portfolio learnings allow teams to scale what works while adapting to local needs.

Data isn’t used just to answer questions—it’s used to form better ones.

Technology that enhances retail operations, commercial leasing, and tenant experience

The panel explores how property teams are adopting proptech solutions to elevate both day-to-day operations and long-term portfolio strategy.

Examples from the conversation:

• Interactive directories enhanced with product-level AI (Morguard)
• Security, safety, and mass-communication tools for mixed-use sites (Oxford Properties)
• Tenant communication, sales reporting, and compliance automation (PIER 39’s rollout of Kinexio)
• Digital wayfinding upgrades to reduce missed searches and streamline customer journeys
• Integration across platforms to avoid “over-platforming” and improve efficiency

Technology selection is approached thoughtfully, with vendors evaluated based on real operational pain points—not trends alone.

How leading owners select and implement Proptech vendors

The conversation provides rare transparency into how large CRE organizations evaluate, pilot, and roll out technology.

The selection process generally includes:

• Identifying a specific operational or tenant challenge
• Vetting potential solutions through demos and deep discovery
• Piloting solutions at select sites
• Gathering feedback from property teams—the true end users
• Assessing scalability across different asset types and markets
• Ensuring integration potential with the existing tech ecosystem

Oxford highlights the importance of site champions—property-level advocates who ensure rollout success. Morguard emphasizes the need for customization to meet the demands of both flagship and secondary market properties.

Emerging priorities:

• Ensuring accurate data feeds for AI-driven search
• Validating AI outputs while still trusting human instinct
• Integrating technology platforms to create a single ecosystem
• Prioritizing automation that directly contributes to NOI
• Maintaining the emotional, people-centric core of retail experience

As the panel notes, AI is not a replacement for strategy—it’s a catalyst for better decisions.

See also: Mall of the future