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San Diego Billboard Leases Overlooked, Lost

The city of San Diego is finally starting to collect from companies that have billboards on city land. Over the past 50 years, the billboard companies have paid little to nothing but have earned thousands of dollars from the advertising, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“Nobody (in the city’s real estate department) was paying attention,” said Jim Waring, head of the San Diego Land Use and Economic Development.

The city has overlooked and lost track of several contracts from its over 700 properties. Waring intends to terminate two expired contracts unless the companies agree to pay current market rates, thinking the city could get between $1,500 and $2,500 a month for each of its billboard contracts.

The city recently figured out that CBS Outdoor pays no rent for the billboard it owns - which Waring said was likely the billboard with the most traffic in the city. The rent-free lease began in 1954 and expired in 2003. The lessee on the city’s books is University Square Limited, a company no longer in business. Also, CBS Outdoor is subleasing the land without the city’s consent.