LAS VEGAS — Urban development requires acceptance, trust and perseverance among the community and retailers, NBA great Magic Johnson told a group of nearly 400 at the opening session of the International Council of Shopping Centers annual convention Sunday.
Johnson's company, Los Angeles-based Magic Johnson Enterprises, has invested in a variety of real estate deals, including 105 Starbucks franchises he built over the years in urban areas across the U.S. He's also developed properties with movie theaters and restaurants.
His pep talk came as the convention of 36,000 attendees from across the U.S. arrived in Las Vegas to mingle and network for new retail projects that include restaurants, retail and hotels. It is the largest crowd ever to attend a RECon gathering, according to an ICSC spokeswoman.
The two-day convention draws a heavy presence from Maryland — and many are seeking to add retail and restaurants to urban areas in Baltimore and Prince George's County.
Gov. Larry Hogan led a delegation of state officials who arrived Sunday to lobby retailers and restaurant chains to open shop in the state.
Johnson, a successful entrepreneur since retiring from the NBA in 1996, said he has focused on urban development because of the need for it and the potential of jobs that the projects bring to an inner city.
He joked that if he could play point guard in NBA at 6-foot-9 — he led the Los Angeles Lakers to five championships in a Hall of Fame career — anything was possible.
Since retirement, he has focused on development and said he started out at a RECon event in Las Vegas, where he made contacts to buy the Starbucks franchises. He sold the franchises in 2010 for $27 million.
He is now heading JLC Loop Capital Partners, a private investment group working to raise capital to help replace and repair aging and decrepit infrastructure in the U.S., which he says will cost up to $12 trillion over the next decade. Those projects include bridges, seaports and airports.
So far, Johnson said JLC has raised $1.3 billion, including $1 billion from a single foreign investor this year.
On Sunday, Johnson set the stage at RECon for potential deals to reinvigorate some U.S. cities in dire need of a shot-in-the-arm by advising developers to go after "top of the line" stores and franchises to locate in urban areas.
"I am now working on a big mixed-use project in Detroit today — because, you know, Detroit is on the way back," said Johnson, a native of East Lansing, Michigan who starred in college at Michigan State.
Of urban-focused development, Johnson said "you can do good and you can do well all at the same time."
During a brief question-and-answer session, some city officials tried to lobby Johnson to invest in their cities.
"I am an elected official from Kansas City, Kansas," one woman said. "And we are challenged with a food desert situation. Please come visit us. We need some help."
