How well do you know your real estate assets? Many transit agencies and cities don't really know what they own. Asset management is often an afterthought, instead of a proactive strategy. Understanding available leftover land, surplus property and under-utilized sites helps build a pipeline of development opportunities. How can you evaluate real estate assets to select potential TOD sites? How do you employ geographic information systems (GIS) and easily accessible real estate inventory systems (REIS) to strengthen your management? Learn how difficult parcel configurations, such as railroad rights of way, can be tapped to create TOD. Examine working inventory systems and successful TOD built on leftover land, as well as successful programs utilizing asset management techniques. Moderator: William Velasco II, Chairman, Board of Directors TOD Committee, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Dallas, Texas Amy Geisler, AICP, Development Manager, Metro Transit, Minneapolis, Minnesota Lorna Moritz, President, TR Advisors, LLC, Boston, Massachusetts

1. Real Estate Asset
Management for
Public Agencies
Presented By:
Lorna Moritz
TR Advisors LLC
77 Franklin St. 9th
Floor
Boston, MA 02110
617-482-2525

2. WHAT IS REAL ESTATE ASSET MANAGEMENT?
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Asset Management – “making the best possible use of real estate assets, via
disposition, acquisition, investment and/or development, to achieve the best
possible revenues and income given certain time, return and risk parameters.”
Asset Managers focus on
 Increasing Income
 Reducing Expenses
 Improving Property Value
 Maximizing returns and property value.
How does this concept relate to the public sector?

3. WHY REAL ESTATE ASSET MANAGEMENT MATTERS
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 Being a good steward of publicly owned property
 Providing information about property within the transit agency
 Avoiding costs and liability
 Effectively and efficiently interacting with neighbors, community
and business about property issues
 Preventing encroachments and other un-authorized uses; and
 Creating non-fare/tax revenues from compatible uses
 Disposing of surplus property for the highest and best use
 Creating opportunities for Transit Oriented Development!

4. FUNDAMENTALS OF
REAL ESTATE ASSET MANAGEMENT
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 Know what you own!
 Think of your real estate as a marketable and valuable asset
 View your real estate holistically; don’t let a small transaction impair a larger one
 Monitor your lease portfolios and plan for revenue enhancement
 Have standard form documents for ease of management and responsiveness
to market
 Have effective systems for tenant revenue collection and lease administration
 Streamline process for surplusing property, leasing/licensing, and value
creation initiatives
 Use market based principles for attracting interest in your real estate initiatives

5. 5
 Why the MBTA didn’t know what it owned
 Creation of a real estate relational
database system with geographic
information enhancements
 One comprehensive, consistent and
reliable source of information for over
4000 parcels of land
 Conversion of hard copy data to digital
format (plans, deeds, photos, etc.
 Geo-referencing of parcel data and
valuation/track plans
NO. 1: KNOW WHAT YOU OWN!
CASE STUDY: MBTA & LANDTRACKER™

6. USING & MAINTAINING LANDTRACKER™
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 Automated reporting to answer public and internal inquiries
 Keeping the data up to date; adding new data sets
 Using the system to manage transit assets and other locational data
 Areas of Environmental Concern
 Bus Shelters
 Historic sites
 Underground storage tanks
 Using the data to manage encroachments
 Using the data to find opportunities for TOD and other revenue
producing opportunities

7. 7
 SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR: A project to clean up complex
property title issues associated with the development of
the Orange Line that had languished for more than 20
years. The cost of this project was many times paid for by
the identification of parcels that were surplus for sale or
lease including four TOD projects.
 LINE BY LINE REVIEW: of all of the MBTA’s 650 miles of
right of way, systematically identified encroachments as
well as potential development parcels and TOD
opportunities for the disposition pipeline.
 RAIL TRAILS: Identified and evaluated inactive right of way
for rail trails. Over forty rail trail projects in various stages
of completion and development.
 COMMUTER PARKING TO TOD: Evaluated commuter
parking lots for TOD potential
LANDTRACKER™ SPECIAL PROJECTS

8. WEST ROXBURY: ENCROACHMENT ANALYSIS
AND BACK YARD PROGRAM
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 One mile abandoned orphan line in
heavily settled area
 Over 80 encroachments identified
using LandTracker™
 Community-based “Backyard
Program”
 Multiple approaches to cure
encroachments
 Over $1.5 million in value created
 Satisfied community concerns
 Eliminated maintenance headaches
and costs

9. NEWBURYPORT STATION:
EXCESS PARKING = TOD OPPORTUNITY
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 814 Spaces; 20% Occupancy
 Depot building on the “wrong side of the tracks”
 Two communities
 Wetlands issues
 Agreements and encumbrances
 11 acres were identified for TOD use
 City of Newburyport created 40B TOD overlay zone
 In talks with developer after RFP process

10. RESULTS OF MBTA
ASSET MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
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 Trained over 400 users of the Land Tracker™ Database:
 Legal Department
 Engineering and Construction Department
 Operations: Commuter Rail, Subway, Bus
 Transit Police
 Planning
 Created over $650 million in cash and non-cash value from real estate
assets
 Created over $800 million in economic development within the MBTA
operating region just from real estate sales and leasing for development
 Completed over 55 TOD related transactions