One thing that owners don’t like to hear when negotiating a lease is that the tenant must have possession of the space by some important date, known as the “drop-dead date.” This is an issue because the tenant usually wants the owner to suffer stiff consequences if the drop-...
You can’t stop third parties from suing you if they’re injured after hours by someone in your building or center—but you can protect yourself financially in other ways. For example, make a tenant pay for the actions of its visitors, agents, employees, and subtenants. And make...
Despite an uncertain political climate, foreign investors are keen to continue investing in U.S. commercial real estate. In fact, the U.S. continues to be the single largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the world, to the tune of more than $450 billion from other countries...
In recent years, filling space at shopping centers with smaller, non-traditional tenants rather than large national stores (many of which are suffering financially) has been a successful strategy for landlords. If you’re taking advantage of this rapidly growing trend, you should be aware...
Unfortunately, fires, floods, and other casualties can happen at the shopping center or office building you own. If you’ve signed typical leases with your tenants, they probably place some limits on your restoration obligations. But after a casualty, it may not be cost effective or...
Q: One of the tenants at the shopping center I own has multiple businesses and doesn’t monitor its co-tenancy requirements. I breached the lease by not replacing a tenant that went out of business with a suitable replacement tenant...
Rent abatement is frequently mentioned when discussing commercial leases. But it’s not as simple as including a clause that spells out the circumstances under which tenants are entitled to withhold rent. There are many variables and, if you don’t draft rent abatement provisions...
Because visibility of its show windows and storefront signage is always a concern for retail tenants, a discussion about visibility will inevitably come up in negotiations for a lease for space at your center. Savvy tenants will demand that you agree in the lease not to block this visibility....
Suppose your lease doesn’t give a “problem tenant” a renewal option, but the tenant wants to stay in its space. You might be tempted to allow it to stay if the tenant is important to the synergy at your center or serves some important purpose in your office building. This is...
Unfortunately, tenant bankruptcies are something you’ll probably have to face if you own an office building or shopping center long enough. You need to take every step possible to protect yourself. The good news for shopping center owners is that bankruptcy laws give you more assignment...
Tenants often seek financing to help them run their businesses, so you have probably gotten numerous requests from tenants for a “landlord’s lien waiver.” Without the lien waiver, a tenant’s lender may refuse to go through with the loan, or an equipment lessor may refuse...
No matter how successful you are at minimizing costs and maximizing profits from your leases with tenants at your shopping center or office building, there’s no reason to overlook new ways to generate more rent and income....
