Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/109754
pros are certainly responsible for their own success, Schmidt points out that part of maintaining a strong reputation is working with ownership teams that are a good match. Imagine a landlord who forces the leasing staff to play hardball with retailers at all costs. "In order to be effective at what you do, you have to believe in the product that you are marketing and leasing. And if the ownership isn't a good fit from a philosophical standpoint, it will be tough for you to do your job to the best of your capabilities," Schmidt said. "One of the reasons I've been at Cadillac Fairview for such a long part of my career is that I found an organization that was in line with my goals and business philosophy." Schmidt coaches members of his team to be careful stewards of their own personal brands. "It's important not to take somebody else's business decision personally," he said. "You can choose to walk away from a deal and still have a great personal relationship with that individual, even though your respective companies weren't able to do business in that instance." toring of his uncle, Marvin Solganik, a former head of real estate at Revco and a member of ICSC since 1967. "Marvin, whose son and son-in-law are both in the business, had a wonderful reputation," Solganik said. "Probably the biggest thing I learned from him was the importance of relationships. Honesty, integrity — that's really what Marvin stood for, and that's what I've always strived for as well." Today David Solganik oversees leasing for a 775-property portfolio, the retail component of which includes about 600 retail properties, totaling a combined 22 million square feet. The 12 people on his staff work with brokers to cover diverse markets across 36 states. "We are actively involved and negotiate deals directly with retailers," Solganik said. "When we're talking to tenants like Bed Bath & Beyond, Michaels, Ross [Dress for Less], T.J. Maxx or Staples, we might have 15 or 20 of their stores in our portfolio, so we're able to build on those relationships over time." Among the challenges the industry faces now is the rightsizing of retailers, he says. "We went through a period of DAVID SOLGANIK The rise of the smartphone is one of the more recent changes in the world of leasing. And yet it was a nifty phone that helped kick off the 34-year career of David Solganik, now a senior vice president and director of leasing for Inland American Holdco Management, the property management arm of Inland American Real Estate Trust. "When I went for an interview, the guy who picked me up at the airport had a phone in his car," Solganik said. "That was in 1979. I thought to myself, 'Now that's a business I want to be in!' " After joining Leo Eisenberg Co. (today Eisenberg Co.), Solganik focused mostly on leasing grocery-anchored strip centers and a few office and industrial properties. He benefited from the men- KEEP AN EYE ON THE FINE PRINT, SAYS INLAND AMERICA HOLDCO MANAGEMENT'S DAVID SOLGANIK time where everyone got bigger and bigger, and there was a lot of new development going on," he said. "Now nearly everyone is downsizing." And though the team is doing a lot more deals with medical and other nonretail tenants, the need to persuade retailers to let go of restrictive lease clauses is another challenge. "I once had a RadioShack keep a Best Buy from going into a center, for example, thanks to some little bit of language," he said. "In today's environment, that kind of thing is a big concern." Amid these sensitive issues, then, Solganik cautions younger leasing professionals about the dangers of falling in love with the gadgets of today. "There is a tendency to rely on iPhones and e-mails," he said. "But there is nothing that replaces those face-to-face meetings. Once you have been to a retailer's office, your relationship is forever changed." ALAN J. BAROCAS Smart leasing executives try to empathize with those sitting across from them at the negotiating table, to imagine what it might be like to play the other person's role. But Alan J. Barocas, senior executive vice president of mall leasing at General Growth Properties, has no need for role-playing exercises. After all, before Barocas sat down at the landlord's side of the table, he spent 25 years at Gap Inc., where he helped plan and execute the growth strategies of such mall mainstays as Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy. "I guess you could say the left side of my brain is still that of a retailer," he said. "In a unique way this has helped me and my team on the landlord side. It has been a change, but it has been great." During his years on the retail side, Barocas learned to appreciate landlord representatives who made the effort to grasp the Gap's business needs. He also came to have little patience for those who went into meetings unM ARC H 20 13 / SCT 35