Owner Wins
July 20, 2022
What Happened: In 2019, a clothing store signed a 10-year lease on commercial property in Chicago, starting in September 2020. But the COVID-19 pandemic hit and the tenant never moved in. In May 2021, the landlord sold the building and terminated the lease. In addition to $1.4 million in unpaid...
Feature
June 23, 2022
Offering ROFOs is a great way to attract flourishing businesses. But it comes at a price.
Moving to a different building can be costly and disruptive. Accordingly, tenants that are growing rapidly may seek rights to expand within the building in case they run out of space. One way to...
Dos & Don'ts
June 23, 2022
When negotiating the terms of a work letter with a tenant, don’t just agree to do a particular item of work “to code,” without listing any specifics or limitations. When not properly defined or limited, the phrase “to code” can be the source of confusion,...
Dos & Don'ts
June 23, 2022
In these tough times, landlords need to find ways to turn lemons into lemonade. One example is considering whether the lemon of the tenant who’s paying below-market rent might yield sweet lemonade in the form of a reduction in your property tax assessment. This recipe has worked for many...
Owner Loses
June 23, 2022
What Happened: A restaurant tenant with a habit of paying rent late took advantage of the COVID-19 shutdown to make some improvements to the space at its own expense, assuming that it would be able to renew once the lease came to an end in August 2021. But the tenant was still in big-time arrears...
