Malls · Retail leases · Shopping Center · Uncategorized

Phantom Square Footage

I would have to guess that we may have annoyed a client this week because we would not drop an issue. Their leases required the inclusion of licensee square footage in Gross Leasable Area (GLA). Generally, most standard leases today define licensees as exclusions when calculating prorata shares. (Licensees themselves are typically defined as short… Continue reading Phantom Square Footage

Malls · Office Properties · Retail leases · Shopping Center · Uncategorized

Intelligent people will argue

I have mentioned in prior blogs that one of the things I love about lease administration is that everything you need to know about the lease is right there in 40-50 pages of the lease (sometimes as few as 2-3 pages, but sometimes as many as 500+). But, unless there are outside rules specifically addressed… Continue reading Intelligent people will argue

Malls · Office Properties · Retail leases · Shopping Center · Uncategorized

Poof! A $40m value swing because of lease language.

In prior posts, we have addressed why there are excluded areas defined for purposes of calculating prorata shares of taxes or CAM. In a nutshell, if a part of a property is not paying a full prorata share of expenses, any shortfall has to be absorbed by the landlord. For example, we have a fully… Continue reading Poof! A $40m value swing because of lease language.

Malls · Retail leases · Shopping Center · Uncategorized

Excluded Areas – Premises vs. Occupants

There is a subtle difference in prorate share definitions that you might miss if you are not looking for it. But, believe me, sophisticated national and regional tenants are looking for it. In defining excluded areas, a lease will often read: “the tenant will pays its prorate share of the charges based upon the gross… Continue reading Excluded Areas – Premises vs. Occupants

Malls · Office Properties · Retail leases · Shopping Center · Uncategorized

Negotiate your leases wisely!

In any given year, we (my company, Meridian Realty Consultants) will read and abstract 8-10,000 leases. We get to see what landlords and tenants spend their time negotiating. It is not uncommon for someone in the office to say, “Can you believe someone took the time to negotiate this?” It might be something as simple… Continue reading Negotiate your leases wisely!

Office Properties · Uncategorized

Office leases – Are taxes part of operating expenses?

The short answer? The lease should specifically address whether taxes are reconciled as part of operating expenses or are reconciled separately. But, why should this matter? This week, we were working on an office tower acquisition in the southeast. The majority of the leases had the typical “tenant pays a proportionate share in excess of… Continue reading Office leases – Are taxes part of operating expenses?