Today out of home leasing and development expert Andy Goodman talks about billboard height and lease trends.
Billboard Height
Cities will allow you to build the billboard either from the grade of the billboard location or from the grade of the freeway whichever is greater. You could have a billboard that’s 20 ft below the grade of the freeway but the city will let you go 40 feet above the grade of the freeway so therefore you’ve got a 60 foot high sign. I look for anywhere from 50 feet to 60 feet above the highest point of the grade. Sometimes you have to build them higher. I’ve got a situation right now where I’m working with Staff, Planning Commission and Council and trying to convince them that 100’ overall is the optimum height. In our Industry we all know that higher is not always better and based on our expertise the City as our partner should be open to our recommendations.
Trends in Out of Home Leases
The paperwork is getting longer. They’re becoming more and more sophisticated. They’re becoming more and more like a commercial building type lease than the one page legal size out of home lease document that we’ve all used in the past. They’re becoming more onerous – asking for things like a revenue share and annual increase. This is going to be hurtful to the industry because at least here in Southern California we’re starting to feel the recession. There will be a reckoning in the industry as revenue falls and lease fees and development fees continue to rise that the billboard companies are going to have to renegotiate their leases.
What’s new with Los Angeles Billboard regulations?
Nothing as far as I can tell. The City will eventually get around to considering digital billboards on City owned property or private property.
You can contact Andy at andygoodman.age@gmail.com or 310-721-8422.
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