He paid for college and law school at the University of Colorado by leasing and operating small gold mines in the mountains near Boulder.

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We are also optimistic about the improvement in operating margins as Zipcar transitions from leasing its vehicles to purchasing them and as revenue mix shifts towards higher membership fee.

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First-class existing buildings are priced to yield only around 5% to an all-cash buyer, says research firm Green Street Advisors. (The return they talk about is rent minus the costs of operating and maintaining the building and leasing any empty space.) But a skillfully developed new property can bag an annual cash return of up to 10% of its construction costs.

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Gutman's mediation work occasionally leads to additional advisory services on leasing, insurance and other operating costs.

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If it is unable to either shift from the big-box retail format to smaller stores, or optimize store space by sub-leasing to other businesses, operating costs will not come down.

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