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“Social” tenants—restaurants, entertainment venues, wellness operators, community services and other uses that give people reasons to gather—are becoming a central part of retail-center strategy. They can make a property more useful beyond shopping, encourage longer visits and help owners reuse underperforming space. But the available evidence supports an industry strategy, not a proven national formula: results depend on local demand, the quality of the public realm, financing and the center’s existing tenant mix.
A March 2025 Building Design + Construction report on the future of malls and lifestyle centers describes this shift across the U.S. It presents community-oriented spaces and experiential uses as ways to support connection and visitation, while also documenting high construction costs, interest rates, oversaturation in some markets and lender requirements. The practical question for owners is therefore not whether every center needs the same “social” concept, but which combination of uses can make a particular property relevant and financially workable.
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What does “social tenant” mean in a retail center?
“Social tenant” is not a standardized lease category. In this context, it is a useful shorthand for an occupant or destination that creates reasons to meet, stay and participate, rather than serving only a quick transactional shopping trip. The category can include food and beverage, entertainment, health and wellness, cultural or community services, event operators and flexible gathering spaces.
The distinction is about function, not a legal lease label. A restaurant may be a social tenant when it acts as a gathering destination; a fitness or wellness operator may create regular visits; and a public event area may support social activity even though it is not a conventional tenant. The same business can perform differently in different centers, so owners should define the desired customer behavior before choosing a use.
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The March 3, 2025 BD+C report describes malls and lifestyle centers combining shopping with dining, entertainment, wellness, community uses and, in some projects, housing. It does not establish a market-wide definition or prove that one tenant type causes better financial performance. Treat the term as a planning lens for uses that add activity and belonging.
Why are owners adding gathering-oriented uses?
Retail centers face a basic challenge: a shopping trip can often be completed quickly, while a destination with food, play, wellness, events and public space can give visitors more reasons to arrive and remain. Industry interviewees cited in the BD+C report describe public gathering places, event areas and community programming as tools for connection and visitation. Their business argument is that more activity may increase foot traffic or time spent at a center; those are attributed expectations, not independently measured national results.
Community-oriented uses can also help reposition space that no longer fits conventional retail. Instead of demolishing an entire property, an owner may convert a vacant department-store box, parking area or underused wing into a food hall, entertainment venue, wellness cluster or event destination. Adaptive reuse can preserve existing structure and utilities, although code upgrades, circulation changes, acoustic work and new mechanical systems can still be substantial.
Some projects combine several demand drivers. Housing can supply nearby residents; restaurants and entertainment can provide evening activity; wellness can generate recurring visits; and retail can serve planned or incidental purchases. This is a portfolio approach rather than a guarantee. The right balance depends on demographics, transit and road access, competition, climate, operating hours and the center’s ability to support the required investment.
“Standalone retail and malls as we once knew them are a thing of the past,” Jose Sanchez, principal and mixed-use design leader at DLR Group, told BD+C.
That statement is an expert view, not a forecast that every enclosed mall will disappear. High-performing properties can remain viable, while weaker centers may need a different use mix or a smaller physical footprint.
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Which tenant types create the strongest social function?
No category is automatically successful. Owners should evaluate each use by the visits it generates, the time of day it activates, how often customers return, its operating requirements and whether it complements nearby tenants.
| Tenant or use | Social function | Planning questions |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants, cafés and food halls | Provide meeting places and evening activity; can support multiple visit lengths and price points. | Is there enough local demand across breakfast, lunch, dinner and weekends? Can loading, grease waste, ventilation and odors be managed? |
| Entertainment and play | Create destination visits and group occasions, including family, youth and adult activities. | Will noise, hours, parking peaks and security work with adjacent uses? Is the concept resilient after novelty fades? |
| Health, fitness and wellness | Encourage recurring visits and can anchor early-morning or evening activity. | What floor loading, plumbing, ventilation, privacy and accessibility upgrades are required? Does the catchment support memberships or appointments? |
| Community, cultural and educational uses | Support classes, meetings, exhibitions, services and local identity. | Who programs the space, pays for operations and maintains safeguarding, accessibility and insurance standards? |
| Public plazas and event areas | Make the center a place to gather even when visitors are not shopping. | Are shade, seating, power, drainage, toilets, wayfinding and event management adequate year-round? |
| Residential or hotel components | Add a nearby population and extend activity beyond retail hours. | Can access, servicing, privacy, parking and life-safety systems be separated appropriately? |
A balanced mix usually matters more than a single headline attraction. An entertainment venue may draw a large peak crowd but need restaurants, services and public space around it. A wellness operator may provide steady repeat visits but less spontaneous browsing. Modeling the combined pattern is more informative than counting doors.
How can social tenants improve a center without promising a return?
Four mechanisms are commonly cited by owners and designers. First, complementary uses can broaden the reasons to visit: a customer may combine an appointment, meal, event and purchase in one trip. Second, social uses can distribute activity across more hours and days. Third, visible public life can improve a center’s identity and make it easier to market. Fourth, adaptive reuse can put vacant or oversized space back into productive service.
These mechanisms should be expressed as hypotheses in a business plan, not as guaranteed outcomes. The BD+C report includes interviewees who see gathering spaces as investments that may not show a direct dollar-per-square-foot return. Jade Nunes of Core States Group put the tension plainly: “These are investments that, on paper, don’t provide a direct dollar-per-square-foot ROI.” A plaza, event program or shaded seating area may support leasing and visitation indirectly, while its costs appear directly on the capital and operating budgets.
Measurement should therefore include more than rent. Owners can track visits by time period, repeat visitation, event attendance, conversion between uses, dwell-time proxies, sales reports where tenants share them, occupancy and leasing velocity. Compare results with a defined baseline and account for seasonality, weather, construction disruption and changes in marketing. Do not label correlation as causation: a center may improve because of a new anchor, a road project or broader economic conditions at the same time.
What projects illustrate the strategy?
The BD+C report discusses Topanga Social at Westfield Topanga Center as an example of adding a food-and-gathering destination within an existing retail property. It also describes mixed-use proposals such as Kanyon at Brea and Rise in Cupertino, where housing, retail, food, entertainment or wellness uses are considered together. These examples illustrate possible approaches, not a universal template, and project plans or delivery dates may change.
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The common idea is to turn a center into a destination where people can “shop, dine, play, and connect,” as AO managing partner Rob Budetti told BD+C. In practice, that requires more than signing a fashionable tenant. The public realm, circulation, loading, restrooms, acoustic separation, lighting, security and programming must work as a coherent system.
Adaptive reuse can be particularly valuable when an existing anchor is too large for current retail demand. A conversion study should verify structure, floor-to-floor heights, fire protection, egress, accessibility, power, plumbing, ventilation, grease exhaust and hazardous-material conditions. A lower demolition bill does not mean a low-cost project; specialist systems and phased construction can dominate the budget.
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The choice is not binary. A center can retain strong retail while adding selected social uses, or it can pursue a larger mixed-use redevelopment. The comparison below uses the dimensions identified in the BD+C coverage and highlights trade-offs rather than ranking one model for every market.
| Strategy | Use mix | Existing-space adaptation | Public realm and programming | Main constraints |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail refresh | Primarily shops with targeted food or service additions. | Low to moderate; focuses on façades, circulation and selected suites. | Improved seating, events or wayfinding can be added incrementally. | May not solve excess space or weak evening demand. |
| Social-led adaptive reuse | Food, entertainment, wellness and community uses concentrated in underused areas. | High; reuses anchors or wings but can require major systems work. | Central to the concept; event management and operations are essential. | Conversion cost, noise, parking peaks, code compliance and uncertain tenant demand. |
| Mixed-use integration | Retail, food, entertainment, wellness and residential or hotel components. | Varies; may combine retained buildings with new construction. | Public spaces connect residents, visitors and tenants throughout the day. | Long approvals, infrastructure coordination, financing and construction complexity. |
| New destination development | Designed from the outset around a curated experience and multiple uses. | Limited reuse; greater control over layout and systems. | Can be planned as the organizing framework. | Highest capital exposure, entitlement risk and dependence on pre-leasing. |
“Best” is therefore a local decision. A constrained center may gain more from a modest plaza, better food offer and regular programming than from a costly full redevelopment. A strategically located property with housing demand may justify a larger mixed-use plan, provided the financing and phasing are credible.
What market conditions can undermine the concept?
The source’s U.S. market framing is deliberately mixed. Interviewees describe strong performance at some high-performing malls, but also caution about stability, oversaturation, financing and construction challenges. High material and labor costs, elevated interest rates and lender expectations for pre-leased space can make an ambitious repositioning difficult. These conditions were reported in March 2025 and should not be treated as a complete 2026 market update.
Social uses also carry operating risks. Restaurants need specialized exhaust and waste systems; entertainment can generate noise and security demands; wellness operators may require privacy and reliable building services; and event spaces need staffing, storage, cleaning, insurance and a calendar that remains active outside major seasons. If the center underestimates those recurring costs, an attractive opening can become a weak long-term operation.
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Tenant quality and adjacency matter. A venue that draws visitors but creates congestion, late-night disturbance or excessive security costs can damage neighboring leases. Conversely, a quiet community use may improve identity but fail to generate enough revenue to support its footprint. Lease structures should address hours, signage, deliveries, event obligations, maintenance, shared marketing and responsibility for specialized equipment.
How should an owner plan a social-tenant program?
Start with evidence about the property and its catchment, then test a phased concept before committing to a large build-out.
- Define the problem. Identify whether the center needs more evening activity, repeat visits, family use, weather-protected gathering, vacant-anchor reuse or a stronger local identity. Avoid beginning with a named trend or a predetermined tenant.
- Map demand and competition. Review household and employment patterns, existing restaurants and entertainment, transit, parking, school calendars, tourism, climate and nearby development. Interview prospective users and local organizations, and distinguish expressed interest from signed commitments.
- Choose a mix with complementary peaks. Combine uses that activate different times and customer groups. Test how a restaurant, fitness operator, event space and retail cluster share circulation, parking, restrooms and security.
- Audit the building. Commission structural, MEP, fire-life-safety, accessibility, envelope, environmental and traffic studies. Confirm capacities before promising delivery dates or tenant areas.
- Design the public realm. Provide seating, shade or weather protection, lighting, power, Wi-Fi where appropriate, toilets, drinking water, wayfinding, planting, drainage and accessible routes. Plan storage and back-of-house areas so events do not disrupt daily operations.
- Structure leases and phasing. Match tenant allowances and rent commencement to construction risk. Phase work so the center retains safe access and visible activity, and set clear rules for events, deliveries, noise and shared costs.
- Program and measure. Establish an events and community-partnership calendar before opening. Track visitation patterns, repeat use, tenant sales data where available, occupancy, complaints, maintenance costs and leasing outcomes against a baseline.
- Review and adapt. If a use misses its targets, adjust hours, programming, wayfinding or adjacent leasing before assuming that the entire strategy failed. Preserve flexibility in large spaces and infrastructure where feasible.
What does construction need to get right?
Construction planning is where the social concept becomes operational. Early surveys should verify existing utilities, roof and slab capacity, fire separations, egress widths, accessibility routes and the ability to isolate construction from occupied tenants. Food uses may need new grease interceptors, exhaust shafts, make-up air, upgraded electrical service and dedicated waste handling. Fitness, wellness and entertainment may require acoustic isolation, higher ventilation rates, showers, wet areas, specialty lighting or reinforced floors.
Public space deserves the same technical attention as leasable interiors. Durable paving, positive drainage, shade structures, weather protection, seating anchorage, landscape irrigation, event power and discreet waste storage reduce maintenance problems. Lighting should support wayfinding and safety without creating glare for neighbors. Security, fire access and emergency egress must remain clear during events and peak periods.
For phased redevelopment, document temporary routes, utility cutovers, hoarding, noise and dust controls, delivery windows and emergency access. A center that is technically complete but difficult to enter can lose the very visitation the project is intended to create.
What should readers conclude about “social” tenants?
Social tenants can strengthen a retail center when they answer a real local need, complement one another and are supported by a well-designed public realm and disciplined operations. They are not a substitute for demand analysis, sound financing or competent construction. The BD+C reporting supports a shift toward places that combine shopping with dining, entertainment, wellness, community and, in some cases, housing; it does not prove that every social use improves market health.
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The most defensible approach is to treat social activity as part of a broader asset strategy. Define the behavior the center needs, adapt existing space where the building can support it, phase investment, secure credible tenants and measure both direct and indirect effects. That is how an owner can pursue relevance without turning an industry concept into an unsupported promise.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are social tenants the same as experiential retail?
They overlap but are not identical. Experiential retail usually emphasizes an activity or memorable brand interaction, while “social tenant” is broader and includes restaurants, wellness, community services and public programming whose primary value may be gathering or repeat use.
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Often, but feasibility depends on structure, floor heights, fire separation, egress, accessibility, utilities, ventilation, loading and parking. A building survey and code review should precede any lease commitment because adaptive reuse can still require extensive mechanical and life-safety work.
How can landlords measure whether a gathering space is helping?
Use a baseline and monitor visits by hour, repeat visitation, event attendance, occupancy, tenant sales data when shared, leasing velocity, complaints and operating costs. Interpret changes cautiously because weather, construction, marketing and broader economic conditions can affect the same measures.
Do social tenants always increase property value?
No. They can add activity and differentiation, but they may also require high tenant allowances, specialized building systems, staffing and ongoing programming. Value depends on local demand, lease economics, financing and whether the uses complement the center rather than creating congestion or conflict.
