Q & A

Keeping Politics from Your Tenants' Front Door

September 30, 2010    

Several of the tenants in my shopping center have been displaying political signs supporting certain candidates in their windows. Other tenants are upset about this and have asked me to remove the signs, and prevent candidates from campaigning...

Explaining Actual Accessible Office Space to Prospective Tenant

June 29, 2010    

Q A prospective tenant responded to an ad that I placed for vacant space in the office building I own. It needed 10,000 square feet to accommodate its employees and equipment, and had budgeted roughly $8,500 per month for base rent. The...

Leasing to Government Agencies

April 11, 2010    

Q A government agency has approached me about leasing space in my office building. I am considering the idea, but I've heard that government agency tenants have more specific requirements than typical commercial property tenants. What criteria and...

Calculating Square Footage Fairly

April 11, 2010    

Q I lease the second floor of my two-story commercial building to a dance studio. I would like to include the stairs leading to the dance studio in the square footage. Is it customary, or even legal, to include stairs leading to a second story office...

Specifying Supermarket Trade Name for Tenant at Your Center

August 31, 2008    

I'm negotiating with a supermarket tenant to open a supermarket at my center. The tenant owns supermarkets under various trade names around the country, and those stores operate either high-end (high-priced) models or low-end (low-priced)...

Defining ADA Responsibility in Lease

July 31, 2008    

Q I know that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), buildings open to the public must be accessible to people with disabilities. If any part of the building I own, including space leased by a tenant, does not comply with the ADA, who is...

Recapturing Space from Tenant Wishing to Sublet

February 1, 2008    

Q A tenant has asked for permission to sublet its space to a third party. Our lease contains an assignment/subletting clause that allows me to deny the tenant's request and to recapture the space. In this case, I would prefer to recapture the space...

Defining ‘Vanilla Box’

March 1, 2007    

Tax Benefits of Going 'Green'

December 1, 2006