Understand every lease before you sign it. Plain English guides to clauses, deposits, renewals, and the terms that matter most.
When tenants tour an industrial building, the first thing many look at is the rent. The experienced ones look up. Clear height, the distance from the finished floor...
Medical office leases look like ordinary office leases until they do not. Beneath the familiar structure of base rent, operating expenses, and renewal options sit issues unique to...
Opening a franchise means satisfying two demanding parties at once: the franchisor, which controls the brand, and the landlord, which controls the real estate. Each has its own...
For many restaurants and bars, the liquor license is the most valuable asset in the building. In states with quota systems, a license can be worth hundreds of...
Zoning determines what a tenant can legally do with a leased space, and no lease provision can override it. A restaurant cannot open in a district that prohibits...
Seasonal retailers, from Halloween costume shops to holiday gift stores to tax preparation offices, run their entire year on a few intense weeks. Their leases are unlike ordinary...
Pop-up shops have moved from novelty to a permanent feature of the retail landscape. Brands use them to test markets, launch products, and build buzz; landlords use them...
A pad site is a freestanding parcel, usually at the edge of a shopping center's parking lot or along its street frontage, leased or sold for a single-tenant...
Walk through any regional mall and you will see them: small kiosks and carts selling phone accessories, jewelry, pretzels, and seasonal gifts from the middle of the walkways....
For restaurants in shopping centers, the food court is both an opportunity and a battleground. High foot traffic comes with intense nearby competition, and the difference between thriving...