Feature
January 23, 2018
Don’t be surprised if a prospective tenant asks you to give it early access to its space before all aspects of your deal are finalized. Some tenants are confident that their financing will go through and that other issues will be resolved without incident. A common reason in retail leasing...
Dos & Don'ts
January 23, 2018
Like many owners, you may have certain tenants that commit the same lease violation over and over. But they always cure—that is, correct—the violation before it becomes a lease default. For instance, they repeatedly pay their rent late each month.
Dos & Don'ts
January 23, 2018
If a tenant violates your lease but it doesn’t fall under a “chronic violations clause,” you’re probably required to notify the tenant in writing that if it doesn’t cure—that is, correct—the violation by a set deadline, you can take action against it. If...
Owner Wins
January 23, 2018
Facts: A tenant that operated two retail kiosks within a mall property thought that the owner of the center wasn’t providing adequate security. It sued the owner for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and constructive eviction after the owner took possession of the...
Owner Loses
January 23, 2018
Facts: An owner and tenant signed a lease for a four-story parking garage with two retail spaces below it. The owner served the tenant with a written notice to cure 21 lease violations primarily related to the physical deterioration of the building caused by the tenant. In response, the tenant...
Feature
December 20, 2017
Violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can be costly for commercial real estate owners. It’s a complicated law with nuances that create pitfalls for owners. While the ADA is detailed in terms of spelling out under what circumstances a building’s or a tenant’s space...
Owner Loses
December 20, 2017
Facts: The owner of a movie theater signed a lease for space at a mall. Over a period of time, maintenance issues, like timely garbage removal, became apparent. The tenant asked the owner to take care of maintenance and upkeep, asserting that the lease and common area maintenance (CAM) agreement...
In the News
December 20, 2017
The typical American shopping mall landscape has changed drastically—and for the worse—in recent years, in large part because nearly every item sold from a traditional brick-and-mortar store can be purchased online. Consumers who would rather devote time to things other than driving to...
Feature
November 22, 2017
The design, practicality, and price of interior retail space are big ticket items when a tenant is deciding to lease space in a shopping center. But what a tenant can get and for what price doesn’t matter if other elements at the center don’t work for the tenant. Just as landlords like...
Negotiating Tips
November 22, 2017
An hours cotenancy clause—which says that a tenant will be required to open during the center’s normal hours of operation only if a certain percentage of other tenants are also open—is a typical provision in retail leases. But like many other lease issues that seem ordinary at...
