The world of retail real estate lease management changed 20 years ago with the advent of the National Retail Tenants Association. That was the first year a few people who had been asked to work with landlords on behalf of their respective companies, came together and started developing best practices at a time when, frankly, there weren’t many.
We did not know it then but that is when the NRTA percolated. It was the first time lease administration became a voice in retail lease language–and real estate management was never the same.
It’s hard to say what aspects of the lease administration process changed the most. But just about every aspect of how we do things is now different.
As a commercial property lease specialist, your physical presence and distance matter less. Your thoughts, ideas, and opinions matter most. Personal relationships and peer networking are more important than ever. The ability to reach across channels within the corporate structure are essential.
During those twenty years the management of a real estate portfolio has become more important than ever. Not only does it represent one of the top cost centers for retail tenants, but the real estate portfolio is also a valuable asset that can favorably tip the scales in a company’s future development strategy.
So who has the biggest impact on this real estate asset? The lease administration department when it is working well. The lease administrator controls the flow of information regarding the site; from ensuring tenant and landlord obligations are met, to protecting a store’s asset position from changing store fronts around it, validating occupancy costs, and providing top management with immediate and accurate asset data and development options. We’ve come a long way from the days when paying the rent on time was the only job. Now, a lease administrator is expected to protect the bottom line from erroneous charges, while also employing sophisticated auditing and lease management tools that secure additional dollars to the bottom line.
All this leads me to my main point: This transformation didn’t happen in a vacuum. The evolution of this real estate “back of the house” function came about because practitioners, just like you and me, continued to network, to share experiences, to invest in themselves by taking good ideas and perfecting them in practice.
Over the last twenty years people like you, bonded together to find a better way–and committed to teach yourselves and each other. That is what the NRTA continues to do as it prepares to host the 21st Expanding Knowledge conference.
As I said earlier…the advance of the lease administration field as a critical management function for retailers and office tenants alike, did not just happen on its own. Folks..this is where it happened!
The NRTA. This is where you need to be. Your continued membership is a valuable investment. And, your team members and you need to attend the Expanding Knowledge Conference in Tucson this September.
As a lease administration specialist, you are being asked to do more with less, to contribute additional dollars to the bottom line, and to improve complicated lease control processes. That said, this is where you belong.