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UNIVERSITY RETAIL May 2017 • SHOPPING CENTER BUSINESS • 325 marily because they are dealing with a captive audience — students, faculty and staff — whose needs they have to service. On the edge of campus, they want to com- municate who they are to the surrounding community and create gathering spaces. SCB : Have you seen a lot of success or failure with university-owned retail space? Is there a lot of trial-and-error going on? STEIN : From a retailer's standpoint, figur- ing out the college market is something that takes a fair amount of business under- standing. You have a fleeting population and you are dealing with an audience that is primarily focused in particular dayparts in numbers that are a huge critical mass; it is based off class schedules. This trend is not seen a normal retail environment and it changes school-by-school. You may be opening in a location that could be a single-unit market versus opening in a location where you have a critical mass and from an operating and staffing standpoint, this is a huge deal. Retailers are typically most efficient when they are opening a unit that is feeding off a larger support system. From a campus stand- point, we see a lot of different solutions. As funding and resources have changed for institutions, they are seeking alterna- tives for revenue. They are also looking to outsource more services. A number of colleges and universities have chosen to outsource real estate to third-party devel- opers or managers. Some institutions see retail and something they want to own and control so that they have full deci- sion-making. It runs the gamut. SCB : Do you see more interest in urban markets or university towns from retailers? STEIN : As a broad generalization, urban markets have more interest because of the added density, which helps the retailer; a critical mass of people solves a lot of chal- lenges retailers have in being successful. More people create more opportunity. The leading population you see at a re- tailer in a university in an urban area may be more community-based than universi- ty-based. The population that you see at some of the traditional land grant univer- sities in more rural areas do not always exist in an urban environment. SCB : What is the lease structure like when dealing with a university? Are there pitfalls or clauses that retailers should be aware of that might be different than a lease from a traditional landlord? STEIN : Even though university-related real estate is a relatively young industry, a tremendous amount of sophistication has grown in a short period of time. We are seeing a lot more in the off-campus environment. The level of sophistication is relative to who is controlling the real estate. In an on-campus environment, some of the triple-net structures might be slightly different. As a large landlord who controls all the buildings in the area, colleges and universities are already doing a lot of this work. If they have an $85 million building that they are placing an 800-square-foot coffee shop in, they are still mowing the lawn and doing the landscape work and shoveling the snow. In an off-campus environment, a lot more of those types of costs would be passed through to the retailer in the lease. In the off-campus environment, however, there are more institutional owners buying real estate than the mom-and-pops who used to own those retail spaces, which brings an increased level of sophistication. CLASSIFIED MALL COMPACTORS ARCHITECTURE/DESIGN NO COST TO MALL DEVELOPERS FAIR SHARE DIRECT TENANT BILLING For Rubbish Removal A 20 year history of serving • • • • • • • • MALLS• • • • • • • • OLYMPIC MALL SERVICES A division of Olympic Compactor Rentals, Inc. Chip Panciocco 1-800-722-5371 SIGNAGE P o s t C K V i t P Shipped 24 Hrs 1-800-843-7446 www. 1800TheSign .com with flat caps PVC Post Kit - $84.88 89 98 $ 89 98 $ Full Color 4'x4' EZ Install from x 4 8 x 4 4 $20 option in Printed & #1 Site Sign in the U.S. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ACCOUNTING, AUDITS Retail Tenant Sales • Compliance • Restaurant • Specialty Examinations United States • Canada • Caribbean Phone 985.626.9979 • 800.999.LAMY • Fax 985.626.9943 E-mail: kslamy@thelamygroup.com For classified advertising information, please contact Barbara Sherer (404) 832-8262 bsherer@francemediainc.com