The Next Big Opportunity in Retail Real Estate: Turning Underused Space Into High-Performing Destinations
Across the country, retail real estate is entering a new era. While traditional retail formats continue to shift, a major opportunity is emerging for owners who recognize what underused space can become with the right strategy. The most successful properties today are not simply leased. They are curated, activated, and thoughtfully reimagined to reflect how people live, work, and spend their time.
At Blue Butterfly, this is the work we step into every day. Our focus is helping owners turn dormant square footage into high-performing destinations that create value, drive traffic, and strengthen the overall property. With rising demand for mixed-use, experiential, and community-driven spaces, the path forward is clear and the timing has never been better.
Why Underused Space Represents Untapped Value
Many shopping centers were built for a different retail era, and their footprints often no longer match modern consumer expectations. Long-vacant anchors, oversized boxes, and leftover common-area zones frequently sit idle for years, quietly eroding a property’s momentum.
Yet these are exactly the spaces with the greatest potential. When reimagined effectively, they can become engines of traffic, revenue, and long-term stability.
Adaptive reuse and mixed-use conversion continue to rise as malls evolve into destinations better aligned with today’s lifestyles. Legacy retail centers with strong locations and large footprints remain some of the most valuable assets for repositioning rather than replacement.
The Shift Toward Mixed-Use, Experience-Driven Repositioning
The most successful redevelopment projects share three common themes: diverse uses, adaptive thinking, and community relevance.
Forward-thinking owners are increasingly incorporating:
Entertainment and experience-driven anchors
Restaurants, specialty desserts, and food-hall concepts that bring life to evening and weekend traffic
Hybrid retail-service and wellness tenants
Nontraditional occupants like logistics, office, or specialty medical providers
These combinations broaden a center’s appeal, increase visit frequency, and support long-term resilience.
Real Results: Blue Butterfly’s Track Record of Transforming Space Into Value
Blue Butterfly’s approach is grounded in real outcomes that show what is possible when underused space is strategically reimagined.
In 2025, Blue Butterfly leased more than one million square feet of space across our portfolio assignments. Our team also generated millions in specialty leasing revenue and executed hundreds of deals, strengthening occupancy, driving traffic, and creating meaningful value for property owners nationwide.
This performance builds on a multi-year track record of transformative results, including:
A 19-property portfolio assignment in which Blue Butterfly generated millions in new revenue and leased hundreds of thousands of square feet, creating a reported 10× ROI for ownership.
A super-regional mall specialty-leasing engagement where we leased over 100,000 square feet in a single year, delivered more than $1 million in specialty-leasing revenue, and increased occupancy from 72 percent to 83 percent, curing co-tenancy challenges.
A transition-period leasing project where our team executed 34 new deals in four months and generated hundreds of thousands in revenue, outperforming the quarter’s leasing budget.
A full revitalization of an underperforming food court, repositioned with a curated mix of complementary operators. This transformation turned an empty, low-traffic zone into a vibrant destination that materially improved the center’s merchandising story.
Blue Butterfly helps property owners unlock potential. If your property includes space that has more to give, we’re ready to help you reimagine what it can become.
