REoptimizer^® Blog

Most landlords prefer long-term office leases. The longer your lease, the more time that they have reliable income without having to worry about renegotiations or the cost of tenant improvements. However, your business probably needs the exact opposite -- total and complete flexibility. After all, you could end up doubling or halving the size of your department tomorrow, or changing your Dallas location from a call center to a creative work space. With all of this in mind, it is usually in your interest to sign a shorter and more flexible office lease agreement.

Many people mistakenly believe that it's only possible to get Tenant Improvement Allowances when you're moving in to office space in a new building. The truth is that when landlords have space available in areas where there is high competition, it's often possible to negotiate Tenant Improvement Allowances in buildings that are already home to other tenants.

When you sign a lease, you do a great deal more than just agree to pay rent. While each document varies, it's likely that you have some or all of these lease obligations in yours. Furthermore, many landlords treat them like rent. If you pay them and act on them in a timely manner, you'll be fine, but if you don't, you could end up in default. Here are the top five items to always keep in the back of your mind:

Space planning experts know that the old rule that size isn't what matters, it's what you do with it is all about offices. Adding more square footage isn't the key to making an underperforming space into a highly effective office. Instead, it's using your square footage in a productive way.

When you're looking for your next office lease, realize that your landlord is a savvy professional. After all, if he wasn't, he probably wouldn't own an office building. With this in mind, watch out for certain lease terms that might seem reasonable but that are, instead, highly advantageous to him. If you see any of these six provisions, talk with your broker and negotiate carefully.

The ongoing movement back to the cities has created more and more interest in mixed-use space. While the classic model of residences over retail has been around for years, modern mixed properties offer a much broader range of use types.

In case you missed them, here are some of the posts from our blog in November: