Letting a business use a portion of your outdoor parking lot can be an innovative way to earn additional revenue and boost traffic at your center. While business-related activities, such as book sales, car sales, and boat sales seem to be a relatively quick and easy way to bring in more cash and...
Shopping centers have been benefiting from a proliferation of kiosks and carts selling everything from hair styling tools to cell phone accessories to skin care products. Why have kiosks taken off in recent years? Kiosks have a low cost but a great potential to reap benefits. The cost of renting...
When a prospective tenant isn’t as financially strong or experienced as you’d like, your choices aren’t limited to either taking a substantial risk or passing on an otherwise valuable leasing opportunity. You can secure the tenant’s lease obligations by getting a guaranty...
If you have a multiplex movie theater tenant in your center, you’ll want it to show the latest popular movies so that it will attract crowds. That’s because movie crowds create foot traffic and other sales at your center. The whole center can benefit from this type of tenant. And a...
If you’re like many commercial real estate owners, you’ve considered using “alternative dispute resolution” (ADR) methods, including arbitration, to resolve your differences with tenants out of court. For example, when you and a tenant are certain you disagree on a single...
Q: I’m negotiating a lease with a prospective tenant for my shopping center. I’ve been sued several times in the past few years for personal injuries sustained at the center. I’d like to avoid any further lawsuits. Can I...
Q: I rented space to a tenant under a lease that contained an arbitration provision. The provision specified that all items except for those pertaining to rent—specifically, nonpayment of rent—must be arbitrated. The tenant...
A New York state judge harshly criticized a major toy retailer recently for using litigation as a tactic in negotiating a new lease for its Times Square store in Manhattan. The court faulted the tenant’s filing of a lawsuit during lease negotiations, emphasizing the fact that a borderline...
Who knew that biotech players would be the ones to lead a boom in one of the most historic areas in the country? Despite being home to Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., just outside of Boston, has also harbored a wasteland of empty lots where factories once were located but that haven’...
In this economy, it’s tough enough to fill your center with tenants, without inadvertently letting existing ones sublet space to businesses and restaurants that compete with your leasing efforts. For example, if you’re searching for a tenant to fill vacant restaurant space at your...
Generally, commercial leases require tenants to return space in the same condition as it was rented to them. There’s some leeway for “ordinary wear and tear” to the space. But there are several ways that a tenant can negatively affect you when it moves out, or “surrenders...
