Commercial leasing quandry - Posted by Debra S.

Posted by Ed Garcia on December 08, 1998 at 09:53:33:

Debra:
I would contact the previous tenant and verify their date of termination.
I would then offer to sublease the space for the duration of that time.

At the same token I would consummate my new lease to accommodate
the time frame.
Both parties should welcome this suggestion.

Ed Garcia

Commercial leasing quandry - Posted by Debra S.

Posted by Debra S. on December 07, 1998 at 12:47:34:

Please help me understand the “lease negotiation” process.

I am trying to lease a retail space in a strip center. The owner is an out of town corporation. The property is managed by a highly respected local development company.

The company which owns the property has approved me as a tenant. The agent who handles the property and I have reached an agreement on the lease proposal…with one hitch: the agent seems to be hedging on the availability date of the space.

The space is currently vacant. I was originally told by the agent that the previous tenant had a lease “through November”. I made it very clear that while I would like to be able to open my business in November, I would be willing to wait for the space (it’s that good), with the understanding that I would be able to open by January 1 (or close to that time). I was led to believe that this was possible.

Through my own investigation (and with no help at all from the leasing agent), I have learned that the previous tenant (which has closed all it’s facilities in our town) actually has a lease that extends through March, 1999. The previous tenant has informed me that they will voluntarily return the property immediately.

The leasing agent is singing a completely different tune. The only thing that seems to make sense to me is that the property management company is looking to collect rent from the previous tenant to satisfy the remainder of the
lease term. But in the mean time, my business is suffering because I cannot open my doors.

Is this the way it’s done? It doesn’t seem ethical to me to press a closed business (I do not know if they filed bankruptcy or not) to pay the remainder of a lease when the property could be leased (at a higher rate, I might add) this very minute. I am obviously not very savvy when
it comes to commercial real estate. Could anyone here please enlighten me?

Thanks!

Debra S.