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  • Michael F. Schipper, Director

40 Under 40: “While your education provides a foundation, it does not define your future”


What is your greatest professional accomplishment?

In respect to the commercial real estate industry, I can speak of a series of related transactions which came through the initial placement of a national tenant in a new regional distribution center. The tenant had outgrown their existing warehouse space and was in dire need of more space, though they had a little over one year left on their existing lease. Upon moving them to a new space, I subleased their former location to a local business in need of short term storage. As the term came closer to completion, the landlord began to market the space for lease. I had been working with another tenant in need of the same size space but with an occupancy requirement prior to the official available date. In speaking with the existing subtenant I learned that they were no longer in need of the space they had agreed to sublease for the remainder of the national tenant’s term. With this information in hand I was able to structure a five-year lease term for the new tenant directly with the landlord and provide early occupancy by “putting together” a short-term licensing agreement between the new tenant to be and the existing subtenant. The licensing agreement allowed the new tenant to occupy the space four months ahead of the actual lease commencement giving them the ability to expand their operations sooner. In short, one transaction turned into four deals in two spaces over the period of one year.


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