Feature

Control Contractor Headaches When Tenants Expand

June 30, 2008    

If your building or center has multiple tenants, at least one of them will want the unlimited right to expand its space if business grows, and the option to exercise the expansion right at its convenience.

As an owner, you might be hesitant to include an expansion option in the lease,...

How to Avoid Common Pitfalls of Franchise Leasing

May 31, 2008    

By Scott Frank, Esq.

Leases with nationally branded retail franchise tenants can be a real boon to a shopping center. That coffee, donut, or hamburger shop, or the family hair salon, can become a great traffic generator that helps increase the revenues of all your center's...

Leasing to Federal Agencies: Is the Red Tape Worth the Greenbacks?

May 31, 2008    

As a commercial property owner, you strive to maintain 100 percent occupancy with good, law-abiding tenants that always pay rent on time and in full. While no tenant can ever be a sure bet, you might think that a federal agency is about as close to perfect as you can get. Given the government...

Negotiate Cleanup Responsibilities, Remedies with Medical Office Tenant

April 30, 2008    

Medical office leasing is a hot market. And if you're like many office building owners, you're thinking about renting space in your building to a medical office tenant. But unlike regular tenants, medical office tenants bring certain environmental risks. For example, you can expect the...

Avoid Responsibility for Damage Suffered by Your Tenant

March 1, 2008    

By virtue of a legal concept called “indemnity,” a commercial property owner sometimes can make its tenant financially responsible for damages the owner suffers as the result of any party's actions. Owners generally try to secure their right to this kind of reimbursement by...

Lease Provisions that Cut Risk of Indoor Air Quality Problems

February 1, 2008    

Employees of an office building tenant in Maryland are currently suing the building's owner, claiming that they are suffering the effects of poor air quality caused by “sick building syndrome” [Montgomery Mutual Insurance Co. v. Josephine Chesson, May 2007].

Protect Yourself from Liability Stemming from Your Approval of Contractors

January 1, 2008    

Almost all leases require commercial property owners to approve the contractors that will be making improvements on the property that owners lease to tenants. Most people who deal in commercial property consider the provision necessary to protect the owner; without it, a tenant could hire an...

Get 14 Key Protections When Licensing Portion of Center's Lot for Business Activity

January 1, 2008    

If you're like most shopping center owners, you're always looking for an innovative way to earn additional revenue at your center, boost traffic, increase the tenant mix, create excitement, and drum up positive publicity for your center. You can achieve all of those goals by letting a...