Finding a desirable tenant often is a challenge, especially in an economic downturn. To make sure you don't replace one struggling tenant with another, you may be tempted to tighten your tenant screening criteria, or screen more aggressively than you have in the past.
Real estate investment trust (REIT) returns outperformed the broader real estate market in November. The FTSE NAREIT Indexes are now up more than 100 percent from their March 6 lows. The growth is largely being fueled by the recapitalization of the REIT industry, where REIT public equity and...
When looking to cut costs, one of the first things that tenants try to trim are their operating costs. If a tenant believes that it has overpaid for its share of the building's operating expenses, a lease audit is inevitable for you. Your first step in preparing for audits should be at the...
As an owner in the current recession, you probably thought that a tenant's bankruptcy due to the economic downturn would be the most difficult issue you would have to deal with. However, failing banks, unlike your other tenants, are not subject to the bankruptcy process under the Bankruptcy...
The Federal Reserve Board has adopted a policy statement supporting prudent commercial real estate (CRE) loan workouts. The policy statement, adopted by each of the financial regulators (including the Reserve's Board of Governors and FDIC), provides guidance for examiners and financial...
Green building is booming, but new buildings account for less than 2.5 percent of the U.S. building market each year. Retrofits of existing structures, a tremendous market opportunity for green builders, owners, and building product manufacturers, are the focus of McGraw-Hill Construction's...
Struggling retail tenants may be able to blame their business's failure on things like poor sales, inconvenient locations, or unexpectedly high overhead. But occasionally, the owner is blamed for the failure, such as in a recent Maryland case.
The sluggish commercial real estate industry is affecting both owners trying to keep up with mortgage payments and tenants who are in serious financial trouble—or even in risk of default. In this recession, it is more important than ever to spot struggling tenants in your shopping center...
Three years into a tenant's five-year lease, the tenant and a new business signed a new lease with the owner under which the new business owner was to take over the space, but the tenant would remain responsible for the remaining two years of its original five-year lease.
A tenant alleged that after he entered into possession of two units in a commercial building under a rental agreement, he found that the door lock had been changed and a “for rent” sign had been put up. He was told that he had been “locked out” because he failed to pay...
Commercial owners have much to learn from the case law issued by the U.S.'s federal and state courts this year. The biggest challenge for owners seems to be understanding their responsibilities and rights under their leases and, equally important, negotiating unambiguous provisions that...
An owner claimed that a tenant failed to pay rent and other charges in its lease when due and additionally owed holdover rent for the third and fourth years of the tenancy. According to the owner, the tenant owed it more than $3.1 million.
