Ideally, you’ll want to keep square footage and dimensions out of your lease or attached floor plan because those numbers can easily become the focus of a dispute. But you may have to include square footage or dimensions in certain circumstances—for example, if you’re dealing...
Many tenants need major improvements made in their space in order to accommodate their businesses. Franchisee tenants need space that looks a certain way, retail clothing stores need shelving, and restaurants might need built-in seating. This will probably be spelled out in the tenant...
Office building tenants with long lease terms may be concerned that their office space will begin to look shabby in the future. These tenants argue that the rent they’ll be paying in the last few years of the lease won’t reflect the reality of wear and tear like peeling paint and...
Commercial real estate lease assignments might seem straightforward for both office and retail space: A tenant that wishes to leave its space finds another tenant willing to take over the space and the original tenant’s lease. And, typically, the lease’s assignment clause will...
If you have a tenant that fails to pay its rent, you may decide to send it an eviction notice so that you can kick it out of its space—and even start the eviction proceeding. But if the tenant pays you some—but not all—of its overdue rent after getting your eviction notice (and...
A prospective tenant that’s negotiating to lease an entire building or a large space may want to inspect the condition of the space or the underlying property before signing the lease. For example, it might want to do environmental testing or have an engineer or contractor check the...
Despite an upturn in the economy in many areas across the country, many shopping center owners, especially in areas that are still depressed, are desperate to fill vacancies at their centers. Prospective retail tenants, particularly small retailers, may be hesitant about going into centers...
It’s common for a lease to give an owner a share of any profit a tenant makes if it sublets or assigns its lease. But if you don’t specify this in your lease with the tenant you’ll miss out on this opportunity. And even if you do specify this in the lease, you still need to...
It’s crucial that your tenants are adequately insured. To make sure of this, your leases may list by name the insurance coverage that the tenants must get and maintain. If you think you’re covering all your bases by writing this into the lease in such a specific way, you could...
As a retail property owner, you’ve certainly spent time considering the tenant synergy—that is, stores functioning together to draw shoppers that a center normally wouldn’t capture without them as a group—that will maximize profits. That’s why the use clause in your...
A creditworthy tenant dealing with an overly cautious lender may be confident that its financing will go through, but won’t want to wait until the deal is complete before it signs the lease. Don’t be surprised if the tenant asks you to give it early access to its space, so that its...
Rent abatement clauses spell out the circumstances under which tenants are entitled to withhold rent. But if you don't draft them carefully, you may overlook specific items that can affect you later if the tenant exercises its right. Here are four Dos and Don'ts to follow to avoid...