Urstadt ups mall security with 'super scooter'.

Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., a Fairfield County-based Real Estate Investment Trust, will soon be unveiling its latest acquisition: the revolutionary Segway Human Transporter (HT), an electrically-powered, two-wheel, self-balancing super scooter.

Owners and operators of over 20 shopping centers in the Northeast, UB Properties plans to utilize the HT to enhance security, customer service and property management at its retail properties.

UB Properties is planning to test its first HT at several of the company's more expansive properties, including the 350,000-SF Ridgeway Shopping Center in Stamford, CT and the 185,000-SF Westchester Pavilion in White Plains. The mobile unit will be implemented into daily operations with the center's Property Supervisor at the controls. Security patrols, daily property inspections, and customer and tenant support will top the HT's priority list.

"Efficiency and effectiveness are the two, most beneficial aspects of this new machine in our line of work," states Kevin Mugford, Property Supervisor for Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. "Typical security patrol duties at our larger centers can be extremely time-consuming and tiring. With the Segway HT, those same patrols can be reduced to just a few minutes, which equates into many more completed patrol passes, quicker response times to problems, as well as a security officer that arrives rested and alert."

Property inspections are a critical component of UB Properties' commitment to maintaining premier shopping centers. Operations personnel typically have very limited time to spend at each property, so efficient use of their time is vital. Enter the Segway HT, where one person can inspect every square foot of a shopping center in less than a quarter of the time it requires on foot. The unit can then be lifted into a company vehicle and easily transported to the next center to repeat the process, saving time, energy and ultimately money.