Drafting Tips
September 26, 2018
If you own a shopping center or mall, you know that the success of your tenants is connected to the amount of foot traffic that you can bring in. Movie theaters are a great example of one type of tenant that attracts crowds. But not all movie theaters show films that are of interest to a wide...
Q & A
September 26, 2018
Q: I own a mixed-use building that has retail stores on the ground floor and residential units on the floors above. The ground floor is specifically zoned for retail use. Should I factor in the potential for zoning changes in my leases, and if so, how?
A: Yes. Zoning laws, which are subject to...
Owner Wins
September 26, 2018
Facts: A tenant rented space to operate its nail salon under a lease that was assigned to it by the original tenant. The lease provided for two additional five-year terms. In order to exercise a renewal option, the tenant had to give written notice 120 days prior to the end of the term stating that...
In the News
September 26, 2018
An eviction suit filed against the U.S. Postal Service could speed up ambitious plans for redeveloping a huge downtown Milwaukee building. The owner is trying to evict its only tenant, which holds a lease that could extend until 2040. The owner filed a lawsuit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court...
Feature
August 30, 2018
Many tenants need to customize the space they lease, whether it’s in an office building or shopping center. But altering space—even for simple improvements—can be complicated. So when signing leases, you’ll want to have a work letter agreement—a contract that...
Drafting Tips
August 30, 2018
If you own office building or retail space you’re probably very reluctant to give a termination right to your tenants in their leases. You run the risk of losing a large amount of money; allowing a tenant to get out of its lease early can render costly improvements and other expensive items...
Q & A
August 30, 2018
Q: The standard lease form that my attorney and I have used for the last several years requires a tenant to add me to its commercial general liability (CGL) policy as an “additional named insured.” But recently I have spoken with other shopping center owners about this who have said...
Dos & Don'ts
August 30, 2018
Before retaining a real estate attorney for a new deal, don’t spend time and money disclosing the deal’s details to her before you are sure that no conflict of interest exists that could prevent her from fairly representing your interests. This applies whether the attorney is new to you...
Dos & Don'ts
August 30, 2018
If your commercial property has more than one level, it will have at least one set of stairs. You may be wondering if you could include the stairs leading to, say, the dance studio in the square footage, and whether it’s customary, or even legal, to include stairs leading to a second-story...
In the News
August 30, 2018
A new lawsuit raises the question of whether an office building tenant should get to choose whether to use union contractors for its space, or whether the decision should be left up to the building’s manager.
The federal lawsuit filed against real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle by a Chicago...
