DECATUR, GA - October 22, 2008 – – Lease administration teams across the retail industry are under serious pressure as the struggling economy forces a rise in operating costs and pushes to protect the bottom line. The fight against rising major costs, utility, tax expenses) is tiring and stressful, pushing the resources of many departments to the edge. However, for one supermarket chain the effort has paid off handsomely.

Members of an occupancy cost team for Property Works of Decatur, GA report recovering $238,000 in erroneous lease charges for a 20-unit grocery chain. A veteran lease auditor for the company described the situation as a series of faulty charges that had been undetected over a 24-month period of time.

Not the Time for Status-Quo Thinking
“This is not a time,” Kim Finnegan, Managing Partner of Property Works insists, “for status-quo thinking on the part of in-house lease administration teams.”

Today’s retailers are determined, now, more than ever, she explained, to achieve solutions that protect the bottom line. “It’s no wonder that many lease administration managers and company accountants are starting to think ‘outside the box’ when it comes to reaching short-term cost recovery targets.”

This atmosphere pushes many medium to small chains to consider new strategies, including a particularly effective approach to hire lease administration specialists like Property Works. This strategy allows department managers to expand capabilities for lease audit recovery, while effectively improving the ability to keep pace with a myriad of lease obligations such as critical renewal obligations.

The Property Works occupancy team said that the grocery chain’s erroneous costs were found in budget line items including CAM, tax and insurance annual reconciliations. Additional billing mistakes were found in landlord invoices pertaining to management and admin fees, budgeted escrow errors, faulty space measurements pertaining to a recent construction project, failure to prorate for occupancy repairs and incorrect roof and structural maintenance charges.

“We put a team on the assignment and quickly identified invaluable cost recovery results,” Finnegan explained. Highlighting the cost-efficiency of the project, she added, “In a short time, these recovery credits easily pay for the costs of our services.”

Effective Cost Control Partners
As the economy continues to force retailers into 'lean and mean' cost control strategies, lease administration specialist resources like Property Works are proving to be a viable, cost-effective option. Firms like Property Works respond to the needs of retailers who need all hands on deck, helping to control spending, implement better performance methods, and improve bottom line positions.

CONTACT: Karla Bushaw
(678-461-0004)
(678-277-9045)