"Mall or Offices?" — The Question a Family Meeting Can't Settle, and an HBU Study Can
Updated: Oct 14
A family owns a plot in a good part of the city. The conversation at home is always the same: should we build a mall, offices, or apartments? Everyone has an opinion, and every opinion is sincere. Nobody in the room has the answer, because the answer is not an opinion — it is a study.
What Highest and Best Use actually asks
HBU is not about what you would like to build. It asks which of all possible uses produces the highest sustainable return on this specific plot. Every candidate use passes through four filters, in order:
Legally permissible: zoning, licensing, height and setback limits, permitted activities.
Physically possible: plot dimensions, access and turning, infrastructure capacity, visibility, parking.
Financially feasible: does the construction cost meet a realistic income projection at an acceptable return?
Maximally productive: among the feasible options, which one outperforms the rest over the life of the asset?
Why the obvious answer is often wrong
The default answer in our region has been retail, because retail is visible and prestigious. But a plot's best use depends on what the surrounding catchment already has too much of and what it lacks. We have seen plots where the strongest return was a medical center with ground-floor retail, a serviced-office building with an F&B podium, or a mixed-use scheme where retail is a supporting layer rather than the main event.
The mall is sometimes the answer. But it should be the conclusion of a study, not the starting assumption of a family meeting.
Where owners lose money without noticing
Building the maximum instead of the optimum. Using every permitted square meter is not the same as using it profitably; unnecessary GLA becomes permanent vacancy.
Ignoring phasing. A plot that cannot absorb the full scheme today may support it in stages — HBU should test timing, not just use.
Fixing the concept before zoning is confirmed. Designs drawn against assumptions about permits are the most common source of late, expensive redesign.
Valuing the land emotionally. Inherited land often carries a price in the owner's mind that no use can justify. HBU replaces that number with a market one.
What the study gives you
A ranked set of viable uses with financial comparison, a recommended scheme with a phasing option, and — importantly — the evidence to say no to the uses that felt attractive but do not pay. That evidence is what turns a family discussion into a decision everyone can stand behind.
A note from the field
In the projects we have advised on across the Levant and the Gulf, the owners who did HBU first almost never regretted the spend; the ones who skipped it often paid for it later in vacancy, redesign, or a concept the market never wanted. That is the work we do at RETAILBIG: helping owners find the highest and best use of what they already hold before capital is committed. You can read how we work on our About page.
Holding land or an underperforming building and weighing your options? Send us a brief and receive a complimentary 15–30 minute consultation: Contact RETAILBIG
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Images: Pexels (free to use) — photos by Mike van Schoonderwalt, l . kaplenig, and Lywin.
