News
"El” Real Estate Elevating Revenues
January 5, 2012
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| Notice anything new at your “El” stop? Hint: it’s tall, red, and entertaining. The CTA is installing Redbox kiosks renting DVDs and games at 11 stations. They offer riders more creature comforts and the CTA more opportunity to cash in on non-fare revenue generated by its real estate assets. Pick up Angelina Jolie from a kiosk at UIC-Halsted, take her on a ride to the airport, and drop her off in LA, Denver, or New York. |
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| But El real estate can offer more than fun and games, say JLL managing director Kurt Little and analyst Lindsey Fahey. Since '09, JLL has helped the CTA generate at least $35M in revenue from its real estate. Besides Redbox, they’ve signed retail leases for coffee shops, juice bars, restaurants, and ATMs. They’ve arranged parking agreements and sold CTA property. Kurt attributes some of their success to a leasing process that reduced the required documentation from 30-plus pages to one. And no, they didn't just change the size of the writing. |
