Two veteran real estate executives from consultancy CREModels ask a provocative question in a new column for Commercial Property Executive: How can single-use developers of offices, shopping centers or multifamily properties prepare themselves for a mixed-use world? The national trend toward mixed-use development is undeniable, write Mike Harris, managing director, and Max Garbus, practice director, due diligence services. “Marketed as experiential, live-work-play communities beloved by Millennials and empty nesters alike, mixed-use projects are popping up from the waterfronts of the Mid-Atlantic to the suburbs of Seattle,” they note. But if they choose to embrace the trend, caution the executives, single-use developers need to carefully prepare for the different dynamics that prevail. “Simply put, mixed-use is a different animal,” they write.