Feature Articles

Draft Nuisance Provisions that Prevent Landlord from Limiting Your Operations

June 29, 2017    

The point of negotiating a lease that’s favorable to you is to ensure that the terms you’re required to operate under allow you to use your space in a way that’s beneficial for your business. But if your business generates noise, plays loud music, attracts customer lines or...

Negotiate Parking Provisions to Get Enough Spaces for Customers and Employees

June 29, 2017    

Unless your business is located in an urban center near mass transportation, parking should be a major discussion during your lease negotiations. Without adequate parking at the property where you rent space, your store or office probably won’t survive. Many owners just designate an area...

Keep Recapture Option Flexible for Future Needs

May 31, 2017    

Many leases will provide that if a tenant wants to assign the lease or sublease all or any portion of the space it leases, the owner will have the right to recapture—that is, take back—the space. In the context of an assignment, by which the tenant transfers to an assignee all of its...

Negotiate Relocation Rights for Temporary Office Move

May 31, 2017    

You might think of tenant relocations as applying mostly to retail spaces. And relocations within malls and shopping centers are common because of lease rights that include tenants choosing which other particular tenants or types of tenants they want to be adjacent to or nearby in a center. If...

Drafting Limits on Guaranty in Lease

May 31, 2017    

Q: The owner of the space I’m considering leasing wants me to provide a guaranty. I’ve found a guarantor, but I want to avoid giving the owner unfettered power and make sure the guarantor is protected. Otherwise, what incentive...

Economists: CRE Industry Stays Steady through 2019

May 31, 2017    

A new three-year economic forecast from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate predicts that the U.S. economy and commercial real estate industry are, in general, expected to experience moderate growth through much of 2019. The ULI Real Estate Consensus...

Negotiate Four Key Items in CAM Reconciliation Clause

April 19, 2017    

If your lease requires you to pay annual common area maintenance (CAM) costs or operating expenses based on estimates that the owner calculates at the beginning of the year, you should be aware that, although this seems like a simple process in theory, in practice there are many pitfalls for...

Make Sure You Aren’t Converting Utilities in Violation of Lease

April 19, 2017    

If you are the assignee on a lease, you might move into the space thinking that everything is status quo and that the assignor was complying with the lease provisions. But it’s important to do your own due diligence, as much as possible, to determine whether there are violations that would...

Meeting Requirements to Bring Claim to Trial

April 19, 2017    

Q: A provision in my lease for space in a retail center specifies that I must fix any damage to the elevator that I use as part of my business. The owner recently discovered that the equipment has been damaged, and it sent me a notice to cure...

Sublet to 'Approved Franchisee' Without Consent

March 29, 2017    

Both commercial real estate owners and tenants that are franchisees have control issues that come to the forefront when negotiating leases. Owners—especially those of retail centers—are under pressure to keep a winning synergy of tenants going while also honoring exclusive use and...

Trade Extended Lease Term for Reduced Rent Rate

March 29, 2017    

Although the market has bounced back in many—especially urban—areas of the country, rental rates are still good or even relatively low in certain areas. If you have several years left on your lease and think that you’ll have to continue to pay a rental rate that could be better...

Keep Control Over Cost of Owner's Marketing Plan

March 29, 2017    

Advertising can be the make-or-break factor for some businesses, especially those that are new or are located in an out-of-the-way area. Because it never hurts to have ample advertising for your business, if your center has a promotional fund, it can be a great way to get your name out there...

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