PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 
COMMISSION AGENDA               Item No.      7a 
STAFF BRIEFING 
Date of Meeting      May 27, 2014 

DATE:    April 18, 2014 
TO:     Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:    James R. Schone, Director, Aviation Business Development 
Deanna Zachrisson, Manager, Concessions Business 
SUBJECT:  Staff Briefing on the Airport Dining and Retail Master Plan for Seattle-
Tacoma International Airport 

SYNOPSIS 
This briefing will provide an overview of the airport dining and retail master planning
work-to-date. This master plan is a holistic planning process designed to ensure that the
future dining and retail program offers the right products and services to the traveling
public in the right locations by the highest quality operators. The master plan effort has
been built on the foundations of the Port's Century Agenda, the Aviation Division
Strategic Goals, and most specifically, the Commission's direction to staff in its
"Commission Motion Concerning the Airport Concessions Program," which was
approved on February 14, 2012. 
A key component of this master plan, included in this briefing, is a proposed strategy for
a phasing plan to manage the transition of the Airport's dining and retail program as
current leases approach expiration. A phasing plan is the scheduling of how lease
expirations and competition for new leases will be staggered in order to avoid negative 
impacts to customer service, airport operations, revenue generation and employment
continuity. It allows the Port to better manage the program transition over the next
several years and establish a sustainable schedule of lease renewals for future years in the
program. 
BACKGROUND 
Planning Efforts to Date 
The Airport's offering of restaurants and shops will soon be in transition as leases begin
expiring in 2015-2017 for the vast majority of units airport-wide. Over the past three
years, staff and its consultant team have been working on a dining and retail master plan
for the purpose of planning the future passenger offering in light of facility changes,
changes in passenger needs/desires as well as expected increased demand. The elements
of the master plan that have been completed to date include: future demand projections,
block planning of needed offerings throughout the facility (with the exception of the

Template revised May 30, 2013.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
April 18, 2014 
Page 2 of 2 
North and South Satellites), detailed unit planning and sales analysis as well as a forecast
of potential future employment growth. The work is now moving toward development of 
phasing and leasing plans in order to address the upcoming major lease expirations. 
Lease Phasing 
The Airport currently has 60 units under lease agreements with large prime operators that 
expire in late 2016-early 2017. The large number of units with near simultaneous
expiration dates is a consequence of the shift in the management model from a master
concessionaire that took place in 2005.  The former master concessionaire operated
nearly all of the Airport's food service, retail, and duty free units from 1963 through
2004. At that time, the Airport instituted a hybrid leasing structure of large operators and
direct leases with independent operators.  Because nearly all leases after the master
concessionaire were executed at the same time for similar lease term length, they are now
also expiring nearly simultaneously. 
The phasing plan is intended to address the problem of a large peak in expirations that
was not considered as a future consequence when the program changed in 2005. During 
that transition, there were significant negative impacts and disruptions to customer
service, facility operations, and revenue generation as the Airport struggled to manage the
transition of the entire program at one time.  In order to avoid these same negative
impacts, the Port must stagger the cycle of terminations of large numbers of units at one
time. An effective phasing plan is the means to accomplish this task over the long term. 
Prime Concessionaire Negotiations 
Development of a complete phasing plan requires that staff and its consultant team
initiate negotiations with the large prime operators. Once a phasing plan for these units is
determined, staff will be able to develop a leasing plan that outlines lease transition dates
and a schedule for new competition for the entire program.  The leasing plan as a
sequential step after the completion of the phasing plan within the overall structure of the
master plan is illustrated in Exhibit A. Staff hopes to bring the first adjustments to prime
concessionaire leases to the Commission in mid-summer of 2014. 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING 
Exhibit A: Airport Dining and Retail Master Plan Pyramid 
Exhibit B: Power Point Presentation 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
March 27, 2012  Briefing about Interim Concessions Leasing 
February 14, 2012  Commission Motion Concerning the Airport Concessions Program 
December 13, 2011  Aviation Concessions Program Principles and Practices 
July 26, 2011  Procurement for Concessions Planning and Leasing Services 
September 11, 2012  (Briefing) Airport Concessions Master Plan Update