A Coasean Sign

by Ian Ayres

New York Times
March 18, 2009

Last fall, I spoke at an SPSS conference in Las Vegas. As I was heading home, I saw a sign on a convenience store (right next to Bally’s) that made me do a double-take. I got so interested that after a couple of blocks, I convinced my driver to turn around and let me go back to take these pictures:

In case it is difficult for you to read, the convenience store seems to have renamed itself “We Have 22 Years Left On Our Lease.”

When I asked the driver, he told me that more than a year ago, the landowner and the tenant had a big legal dispute. The landowner had tried to sell the property “out from under the lease” for another use. The tenant who runs the convenience store had taken the landlord to court and had succeeded in getting an injunction blocking the sale and enforcing the 22-year lease. (Mini bleg: Is this true? Do readers have any details on the dispute?)

From the street, there is strong visual evidence that a quickie mart is not the “highest and best use” for this property. It is surrounded by high-rise hotels and is just off the Vegas main drag.


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