[Skip to main content](/content/podcasts/brian-kosoy#main/index.html) Your web browser is out of date. Update your browser for more security, speed and the best experience on this site. [Update your browser](http://outdatedbrowser.com/) Click for sound Posted Jun 2, 2026 # A Contrarian's Vindication: Why Grocery-Anchored Retail Is Entering a 7-Year Rental Growth Super Cycle [Contact us](/content/learn-more/index.html) - [Find us on LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/juniper-square) - [Find us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/junipersquare/) - [Find us on Twitter](https://twitter.com/juniper_square) - [Find us on Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/@JuniperSquare) Brandon Sedloff and Brian Kosoy explore the transformation of retail real estate from distressed contrarian bet to institutional favorite. Kosoy, CEO of Sterling Organization, explains how his firm built a $4 billion vertically integrated shopping center platform by staying committed to retail through 15 years of headwinds—from the financial crisis through the retail apocalypse and COVID-19. He shares his unconventional path from failing out of Canadian schools to practicing real estate law in New York, then launching Sterling Organization in the summer of 2007, just as credit markets froze. They discuss: - Why vertical integration creates competitive advantages in tenant relationships and lease structuring that third-party management cannot replicate - The structural supply-demand imbalance driving a potential seven-year rent growth supercycle in grocery-anchored shopping centers - How being pigeonholed as "the shopping center guys" during a 15-year downturn created a durable moat as institutional capital returns to the sector - Why the average shopping center deal size makes it nearly impossible for large allocators to deploy $500 million quickly with quality managers - The difference between generating alpha in negative beta environments versus riding positive beta waves This episode examines how conviction through market cycles builds institutional platforms that can't be replicated by trend-followers or capital chasers. Megaphone Embeddable Player The Distribution by Juniper Square A Contrarian's Vindication: Why Grocery-Anchored Retail Is Entering a 7-Year Rental Growth Super Cycle - Brian Kosoy - Managing Principal and CEO of Sterling Organization 00:00:00 Forward 15 seconds Back 15 seconds 00:00:00 [Save to Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5ysEwoATUSEiol96NZgR8L?intent=1 "Save to Spotify") Subscribe Description ## Share The Distribution by Juniper Square Share this episode with your friends [Share via Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?quote=%27A+Contrarian%27s+Vindication%3A+Why+Grocery-Anchored+Retail+Is+Entering+a+7-Year+Rental+Growth+Super+Cycle+-+Brian+Kosoy+-+Managing+Principal+and+CEO+of+Sterling+Organization%27+by+The+Distribution+by+Juniper+Square&u=https%3A%2F%2Fmegaphone.link%2FDTSOS6931451822 "Share via Facebook")[Share via Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=%27A+Contrarian%27s+Vindication%3A+Why+Grocery-Anchored+Retail+Is+Entering+a+7-Year+Rental+Growth+Super+Cycle+-+Brian+Kosoy+-+Managing+Principal+and+CEO+of+Sterling+Organization%27+by+The+Distribution+by+Juniper+Square&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmegaphone.link%2FDTSOS6931451822 "Share via Twitter") [Download episode](https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/DTSOS6931451822.mp3?source=player) ## Subscribe to The Distribution by Juniper Square Keep up to date by subscribing to this podcast [](https://feeds.megaphone.fm/the-distribution "Subscribe via RSS") [Subscribe via Apple Podcasts](https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1677652734 "Subscribe via Apple Podcasts") [Subscribe via Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5ysEwoATUSEiol96NZgR8L "Subscribe via Spotify") [Subscribe via iHeart](https://www.iheart.com/podcast/268261652 "Subscribe via iHeart") ## Description They discuss: \- Why vertical integration creates competitive advantages in tenant relationships and lease structuring that third-party management cannot replicate \- The structural supply-demand imbalance driving a potential seven-year rent growth supercycle in grocery-anchored shopping centers \- How being pigeonholed as "the shopping center guys" during a 15-year downturn created a durable moat as institutional capital returns to the sector \- Why the average shopping center deal size makes it nearly impossible for large allocators to deploy $500 million quickly with quality managers \- The difference between generating alpha in negative beta environments versus riding positive beta waves This episode examines how conviction through market cycles builds institutional platforms that can't be replicated by trend-followers or capital chasers. Links: Sterling Organization - [https://www.sterlingorganization.com/about/](https://www.sterlingorganization.com/about/) Juniper Square - [https://www.junipersquare.com/](/content/site-root.html) Brandon on LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsedloff/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsedloff/) Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:01) - Brian’s background and career (00:16:08) - Building Sterling Organization (00:25:48) - Key stats for Sterling Organization (00:30:16) - Building conviction in the shopping center business (00:33:54) - Structural changes and themes for the industry in the future (00:40:23) - Vertical Integration (00:43:49) - Institutional Capital (00:46:20) - Common misconceptions about retail (00:50:19) - Things to keep an eye on Posted Jun 2, 2026 # A Contrarian's Vindication: Why Grocery-Anchored Retail Is Entering a 7-Year Rental Growth Super Cycle [Contact us](/content/learn-more/index.html) They discuss: This episode examines how conviction through market cycles builds institutional platforms that can't be replicated by trend-followers or capital chasers. Megaphone Embeddable Player The Distribution by Juniper Square 00:00:00 Forward 15 seconds Back 15 seconds 00:00:00 [Save to Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5ysEwoATUSEiol96NZgR8L?intent=1 "Save to Spotify") Subscribe Description ## Share The Distribution by Juniper Square Share this episode with your friends [Download episode](https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/DTSOS6931451822.mp3?source=player) ## Subscribe to The Distribution by Juniper Square Keep up to date by subscribing to this podcast ## Description They discuss: \- Why vertical integration creates competitive advantages in tenant relationships and lease structuring that third-party management cannot replicate \- The structural supply-demand imbalance driving a potential seven-year rent growth supercycle in grocery-anchored shopping centers \- How being pigeonholed as "the shopping center guys" during a 15-year downturn created a durable moat as institutional capital returns to the sector \- Why the average shopping center deal size makes it nearly impossible for large allocators to deploy $500 million quickly with quality managers \- The difference between generating alpha in negative beta environments versus riding positive beta waves This episode examines how conviction through market cycles builds institutional platforms that can't be replicated by trend-followers or capital chasers. Links: Sterling Organization - [https://www.sterlingorganization.com/about/](https://www.sterlingorganization.com/about/) Juniper Square - [https://www.junipersquare.com/](/content/site-root.html) Brandon on LinkedIn - [https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsedloff/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsedloff/) Topics: