Understand every lease before you sign it. Plain English guides to clauses, deposits, renewals, and the terms that matter most.
Insurance is a standard feature of every commercial lease, but the insurance section is often treated as boilerplate. Tenants skim it, landlords recycle it from prior deals, and...
Hazardous materials clauses are among the most consequential provisions in a commercial lease, and they are also among the least read. Buried in the lease's boilerplate, these clauses...
A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is the standard first step in evaluating contamination risk before leasing or buying commercial property. It is a structured investigation into a...
Environmental liability is one of the highest-stakes issues in commercial leasing. Contamination discovered on a leased property can trigger cleanup costs running into the millions, and federal law...
The Americans with Disabilities Act sets national standards for accessibility in places of public accommodation and commercial facilities. For commercial tenants and landlords, the ADA raises a practical...
Most commercial leases include heating and cooling during standard business hours as part of the base building services. But businesses rarely operate strictly within those hours. Evening meetings,...
Parking can make or break a commercial location. Employees need reliable spaces every morning, customers need convenient access throughout the day, and delivery vehicles need room to maneuver....
The work letter is one of the most negotiated exhibits in a commercial lease. It is the document that governs how the tenant's space gets built out: who...
Every commercial buildout involves a fundamental question: which work does the landlord do, and which work does the tenant do? The answer determines who hires the contractors, who...
When a landlord hands over commercial space, the condition of that space varies enormously. One tenant might receive a raw concrete shell with no finishes at all. Another...