KISSIMMEE - Builders of shopping centers in Florida nearly printed money in the past several years, benefiting from skyrocketing rent and soaring prices for strip malls.

But Monday, the mood at a shopping center industry convention was decidedly downbeat as the housing and credit crisis finally hit retail development hard. Among the sobering news, sales of shopping centers have plummeted by as much as 90 percent in some areas, retail real estate experts said at the annual International Council of Shopping Centers convention here.

One 60-year veteran of the industry, octogenarian real estate owner Stanley Tate of north Miami, said this may be the most severe real estate downturn he has seen. After years of being in the driver's seat, landlords are going to have to start cutting their store tenants some slack, Tate said.

"A store occupied is a lot better than a store unoccupied - even at half the rent," he said.

Monday morning, hundreds of retailers, shopping center owners and finance companies gathered to strike deals and get the industry scoop at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center.

Among the highlights:

•The end of flipping. In the past several years, shopping centers were constructed, bought and sold at a blistering pace. Craig Sher, executive chairman of the development firm The Sembler Co., joked that developers made more money in the past five years than in the previous 30. However, that has changed dramatically as banks tightened their lending practices and population growth slowed in Florida.

Investment in retail centers, such as the purchase of shopping centers, is down 70 percent in South Florida and 90 percent in north Florida and central Florida, including the Tampa region, said Brad Peterson, managing director of real estate finance company Holiday Fenoglio Fowler LP.

•Rent stabilizing. Vacancy at malls and strip malls had been so low in recent years that it helped drive up rent for big and small stores alike. But in recent months, the vacancy rate has risen to about 8 percent from 6 percent.

"That's a major increase," said Patrick Berman, a broker with the Cushman & Wakefield real estate firm.

To fill the space, landlords are having to either cut rent or, in many cases, are dangling incentives to lure tenants. This includes a month or two of free rent and tenant improvement money to help shops fix up their locations, Berman said.

•"Flight to quality." It's likely that in the near future, the public won't see as many shopping centers pop up in as many small, but growing, communities. With the slowdown in population, retailers and landlords are more keen on owning shopping centers in densely populated areas and less likely to build a strip mall and let people move in around it, Berman said.

With all the sobering news, there was tremendous interest in the few retailers that are expanding rapidly in Florida. Five were spotlighted Monday: Five Guys Burgers and Fries; rue21, a teen apparel chain from Pennsylvania; Hurricane Grill & Wings of Lake Worth; ULTA Beauty, a cosmetics retailer from Illinois; Put a Cork In It, a small Winter Garden wine store; and Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at msasso@tampatrib.com or .