What Silicon Valley Needs More Of

SRS Real Estate Partners SVP Randol Mackley says Silicon Valley has more retail sales than his home state of Utah. (But one fewer Mormon Tabernacle Choirs.) Introducing ground-floor retail into mixed-use projects is a challenge because the experience of a building is really on the ground floor—if that's a failure, it gives the impression the entire project is a failure. It's an important amenity; residents too tired to cook want to ring downstairs to their favorite restaurant and have it delivered (same with dry cleaning). Randol expects to see better executions of mixed-use.