Voting for a Tenant (Random Idea)

As a commercial property manager, I’m often asked why we don’t “put Starbucks {or name any other big name tenant} in that space?” – referring to available retail space or retail space that is occupied by a struggling tenant.  I’ve even found myself doing it at strip malls or multi-use developments: a coffee shop would go great here, or this is perfect for a large book store, etc.

What if there was a website or tool where the community at large could vote on what tenants would do best in a particular space?  It would be great… not only would future tenants know what type of demand they might see, but it would make the space much more “sellable – or leaseable” from the landlords perspective.  Think about it… a user can sign on to a website, find a section of retail near where they live or work and make a recommendation for a tenant or vote on recommendations made by other users.

There’s probably ways you could tie the location-based services of foursquare or gowalla into this as well.  With foursquare, users “check-in” as they visit spaces and the user with the most check-ins is deemed “mayor”.  The success of these services is making a game out of ordinary and normal activities.  There might be a tool you can add to these services: the “I wish” application.  I wish there was a pizza shop to check-in at here.  Or something along those lines.

This is kind of like MyStarbucksIdea taken to another level.

That’s my thought for today.  What do you think?