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With commercial rents skyrocketing, even major chain stores are trying to cut costs on property expenses. What to do? Recruit employees who specialize in freestanding property acquisitions.

At one time, it was all the rage to have a store located in a popular mall with lots of foot traffic. But that was before rents started jumping 5, 10, even 15 percent annually.

Now many big chain stores are hiring people who know how to find and acquire property for standalone buildings. This skill is now being taught in business schools, so students can expand their horizons into this evolving field. Seeking out vacant land in a customer-rich area is much like being an explorer looking for the New World.

Those who specialize in land acquisitions must find a property that is large enough for the structure the company wants to build, and has enough space for parking. Acquisitions must also be made in neighborhoods where residents are happy to welcome new business.

Standalone stores are not limited to new construction on vacant land, however. That’s why those in property acquisition also have to be visionaries, looking at existing buildings and seeing what could be. Can an old medical arts building be turned into a new state-of-the-art drugstore with a clinic? Can an old school building become the site of a department store? Can a house that is now located in a commercial zone morph into a restaurant?

Sure, there are renovation costs. But they pay for themselves when you figure in the likely rent increases you’d be paying otherwise. And many businesses find that if they want to make renovations to properties they don’t own, they still have to pay for those upgrades themselves.

Property acquisition directors can save big chain stores millions with inspired acquisitions that are good for the chains and good for the areas they’re going into. Once these companies begin renovating their properties, that can lead to revitalization of entire neighborhoods, and some very good publicity for that business.

Of course, there are parts of the country where land in commercial zones is getting harder to find. So business school students are being taught to convince mall owners to sell off some mall property for standalone stores. Oftentimes, mall owners don’t want to expand their malls to the far-off reaches of their property, and leave the land vacant or set it aside for parking. Selling off land for a standalone store is a way for mall owners to profit from the land and have someone occupying the property who will take care of it.

But negotiations with mall owners are delicate and difficult, and take time to work through. It often requires a creative approach to craft a deal that is acceptable to both sides. To make the overall deal more attractive for mall owners, offers may have to include sharing services–like snow removal and parking lot maintenance.

Borders Books & Music has been building standalone stores for more than a decade. Many large restaurant and movie theater chains have been buying property from malls and building structures on them for some time now. The arrangement has worked out well for both sides.

The Walgreen’s drugstore chain, which has launched a drive to open up numerous new stores over the next few years, is committed to having all its stores as standalone structures.

So add being a visionary and a creative dealmaker to your business skills. They could come in handy when expansion talks are on the horizon.