Strip mall owner not paying attention

[Stephen D.]

I was talking to a friend of mine who owns a restaurant in a strip mall.  He was frustrated that the strip mall owner:

1) won't sign any leases over 7 years although some stores have been there for 20+ years

2) does not maintain his property and has several vacant stores

3) other business have contacted him to lease space but presumably doesn't their return calls 

4) has tons of other properties all in the Chicagoland area so may not be as concerned about each individual property's performance as long as the overall portfolio cash flows

I'm wondering if this may be an opportunity to work out some arrangement with the owner to either buy a partial interest and/or work with other investors to purchase and realize the full potential of the strip mall.  It's on a really busy street in a nice area and could probably get:

a) longer term tenants - presumably some are just 1-2 year leases and the businesses are frustrated that they don't know if they will have to move out soon.  Some businesses have deferred improvements. 

b) additional tenants should improve the overall cash flow and help the current businesses with incremental traffic

c) There's a fairly new Walgreens next door which is also good sign

Looking for ideas on how to approach this individual and start a discussion.