The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the need for landlords and tenants to be flexible and work together to find solutions to leases that have become disadvantageous. One approach is to enter into a buy-out agreement allowing the tenant to end the lease early in exchange for an agreed-to sum of...
Even before the pandemic, shopping center tenants were insisting on the right to terminate their lease in the event the anchor tenant leaves. Giving in to these demands may be unavoidable when tenants are a part of a national chain or otherwise enjoy negotiating leverage. But you should also...
In these uncertain times, securing rock solid assurances against tenant default is of paramount importance. The challenge is great. COVID-19 has left many tenants strapped for cash and unable to scrape together a security deposit. As a result, landlords are having to ask for third-party...
The size, look, style, and content of the exterior signs listing a building’s name and tenants can have a significant impact on not only a property’s marketability and curb appeal but also on the landlord’s image and reputation. That’s why landlords should seek to...
In this era of post-COVID-19 uncertainty, commercial tenants are increasingly reluctant to lock themselves into spaces of fixed dimensions over the entire lease term. Their driving imperative is flexibility. In the early days of the pandemic, as telecommuting shrank the need for space,...
Nontraditional, short-term stores have been popping up in malls, shopping centers, department stores, and other retail settings for over a decade. While generally less desirable than long-term tenants, pop-ups offer landlords the opportunity to pocket extra cash on vacant or non-rent-generating...
Physician practices, pathology labs, ambulatory surgery centers, clinics, and other medical providers need commercial space to lease. To obtain it, they’re willing to go not only to offices but also malls, retail outlets, and other nontraditional properties. All of this creates new...
During the pandemic, some of your tenants may have abandoned their office space to work from home, leaving the premises fully or partially furnished. Now that the leasing market is returning to something approaching normal, leasing these furnished offices may prove to be a windfall for your...
New York State has become something of a national laboratory of commercial leasing litigation testing the rights of retail and restaurant tenants that couldn’t meet their lease rental obligations due to COVID-19 shutdowns. A brand-new case brought by upscale retailer Hugo Boss is...
Throughout the course of this pandemic, landlords have found all kinds of creative ways to support COVID-19-strapped tenants who can’t pay rent. When the history is written, it is likely to show that working together to find mutually workable solutions was, in fact, the most effective...
Many, if not most, retail tenants hesitate to sign leases containing continuous operation clauses. Of course, this dogged determination to maintain the right to go dark and not be forced to operate no matter how bad business becomes is nothing new. But there can be no doubt that the COVID-19...
