Robert Moore had developed 500 billboard faces in the course of a 30 year out of home career. Last week he talked about selling Riley Outdoor to Adams. This week he talks about sign development.
How has permitting changed?
That’s a tough question David because the regulatory environment is so difficult now leasing and permitting and building outdoor advertising structures. When I first started this business 30 years ago you could just stop and talk to the for a lease. You could get it permitted in a week to two weeks. Now that process is much different. You’ve got to rezone land. You’ve got annex land. You’ve got to change the local ordinance. What used to take 3 months now takes two to three years.
Less is more when it comes to development.
My approach to permitting has never been to go get all the absolute low hanging fruit that anybody can lease. I’ve always tried to be a little more selective in the sites I pick to build. I see a lot of guys in our business that just go build every absolute every structure that they can get a permit for. I do not think that’s a sensible approach.
How have landlords changed during your time in the business?
I’ve seen landlords become much more sophisticated and land owners have become much more aware of what the true value is of a of a billboard site and they’re able to negotiate with you a little bit more in the the rate or percentage of revenue. They’re much better at negotiating those terms now than they’ve ever been. you don’t have one meeting and sign a lease with land owners anymore. It’s a series of meetings – two, three, four meetings – to really get a deal signed. to the lease sites and then even then you know that’s when the real work starts because you might have to rezone the land you may have to annex the land you may have to do whatever you’ve got to do to get the land to to where you can get a local permit and build it
What’s your thought on percentage of revenue leases?
I don’t mind a percentage of revenue deal. It’s not my first option I don’t mind doing that.
How did you fund your company?
I’ve never had any partners. I’ve owned 100% of all the companies I’ve ever operated. We haven’t borrowed any significant money in five to seven years. We funded basically everything we’ve done out of free cash flow. We did have some loans from traditional banks in the first 10 years of operation.
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