Where We Buy: Retail Real Estate with James Cook

Why Dallas-Fort Worth Is Building More Retail Than Anywhere Else - Where We Buy #398

Dallas-Fort Worth is the national leader in retail real estate construction, with retail development there running nearly 40% higher than the next closest US market and r

The AI Drive-Through That Trains Itself - Where We Buy #397

Koen Schmitz is Chief Commercial Officer at Vox AI, an Amsterdam-based voice AI company building drive-through and phone ordering agents for quick-service restaurants. Sc

Retail Repositioning with The Ardent Companies - Where We Buy #396

Jay Douglas is Managing Director of Development at The Ardent Companies, a privately held real estate firm focused on opportunistic and diversified investment strategies,

Rolling out New Tech Without the Pushback - Where We Buy #395

Elizabeth Boldin Thomas is SVP of Business Transformation and Intelligence at Centennial. She talks about how the company rolled out Claude to a small cross-functional co

AEW's Retail Strategy with Lauren Holden - Where We Buy #394

Lauren Holden is Managing Director, Head of Retail at AEW, one of the world's largest real estate investment managers, with about $40 billion under management in the US.

Trust Is the Real Barrier to AI in Retail Real Estate - Where We Buy #393

Alim Uderbekov is CEO and Co-Founder of Surfaice, an AI operating system built for the full retail store lifecycle, from lease administration and CAM reconciliation to co

Keeping Downtown Austin Authentic in the Middle of a Building Boom - Where We Buy #392

Davon Barbour is President and CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance, the organization representing over 1,200 property owners in one of the fastest-growing downtowns in Am

Wally's: Home of the Great American Road Trip - Where We Buy #391

Michael Rubenstein is CEO of Wally's, a rapidly growing travel center brand known as the "Home of the Great American Road Trip." Michael takes us on a tour of the company

JLL Spark's Nearly Half-Billion Bet on PropTech - Where We Buy #390

Raj Singh is Managing Partner at JLL Spark Global Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of JLL that has invested more than $445 million in early-stage tech startups

Scaling a 24-Hour Vet ER Across 34 States - Where We Buy #389

Jennifer Hanlon is Vice President of Real Estate and Development at VEG ER for Pets, an emergency and urgent care hospital network for animals with 131 locations across 3

The Sweet Spot for AI in PropTech - Where We Buy #388

Choon Lee is CEO and founder of Abstra Company and Abstra Point, and has been working in artificial intelligence for fifteen years. Lee explains why generative AI tools l

The Editor's Top Five Trends Worth Tracking - Where We Buy #387

Amanda Metcalf is Editor-in-Chief at Commerce + Communities Today at ICSC. Her job is to stay on top of everything new and noteworthy in the world of retail real estate.

The Streets Where Brands Want to Be - Where We Buy #386

L3 Capital has a simple thesis: location, location, location. They find the streets where people want to be and invest in them. James spoke with Whitney Robinette of L3 C

Creating Real-World Experiences for Nike, Coinbase, and Taco Bell - Where We Buy #385

Zack Teachout and Austin Mayer are with Hovercraft, a creative design practice that builds brand experiences for clients like Nike, Coinbase, Taco Bell, and BetMGM. They

ICSC 2026 Wrap-Up with Naveen Jaggi - Where We Buy #384

Recording live from the JLL booth in the final hours of ICSC Las Vegas 2026, Naveen Jaggi,  President, Retail Advisory Services for the Americas at JLL joins James Cook a

Naked Farmer CEO Jordan Johnson - Where We Buy #383

Naked Farmer is a fast casual restaurant chain that launched in Florida about six years ago with a plan to offer good meals with ingredients sourced from local farms. CEO

Turning Vacant Retail into Fantasy Worlds with Mike Bennett Studios - Where We Buy #382

Mike Bennett was an unemployed artist in Portland, Oregon when he created a public art project that captured the imagination of the city during the pandemic. He then crea

Turning VR into a Spectator Sport with Mirra - Where We Buy #381

Sam Wang is Co-Founder and CEO of Mirra Immersive LLC, the creator of Mirra Arena, a competitive social VR arena that combines multiplayer active gameplay with large-form

Mall of America's Carrie Charleston - Where We Buy #380

Carrie Charleston is Vice President-Head of Leasing at Mall of America, the 5.6-million-square-foot shopping, entertainment, and dining destination in Bloomington, Minnes

University Innovation Districts Outperform Every Real Estate Metric - Where We Buy #379

Emily Crutcher, Senior Vice President of JLL's Government and Education Division, and Elsa Wilson, Senior Analyst in Research at JLL, join the show to discuss their analy