Your Commercial Lease Review Process in NYC
When it comes to finding a property or location for your business, New York City is home to a number of commercial locations and zones. While this might be a huge benefit in most cases, and offer prospective business owners with a number of different options to choose from, it can also make the choice highly difficult. According to Mr. Rajiv Syed, Esq., considered the best commercial landlord tenant lawyer Queens has to offer, there is a lot that owners need to know before making such a decision that can drastically influence their opinions on the right property for them. With ever changing laws and regulations surrounding commercial real estate, NYC is one of the most difficult markets to truly grasp an understanding of. One of the most important aspects of any commercial property rental is the commercial lease itself, and reviewing it for understanding. This is a vital idea to become familiar with, as many landlords will have you believe that commercial leases are fairly standard across the board – but this couldn’t be further from the case. It’s very important to perform a careful and thorough commercial lease review, with an educated attorney like Mr. Rajiv Syed, the top landlord tenant attorney in NYC, on your side. But what aspects of a commercial lease agreement are actually negotiable? In this article, we will be going over some important areas of commercial leases to understand and identify key areas to pay close attention to during your commercial lease review.
Other Businesses & Competition
This is an especially important idea to understand when it comes to commercial lease review and securing a location for your new business. According to Mr. Syed, the best commercial and residential landlord tenant lawyer Queens has in practice, oftentimes your location will be within a strip mall or any location where there are other businesses located. Therefore, other locations will likely come up for rent by that same landlord over the course of your lease agreement. One item to consider securing is an agreement that the landlord will not rent any of those other locations to any of your competitors or others within the same field of industry as you. This can be vital for the health of your business. Imagine if you were the owner of a smaller, privately owned pharmacy, and within 6 months of securing your brand new location, your landlord rented the space next door to a large, publicly traded pharmacy chain. This could mean the end for your business and drastically impact things for you moving forward.
Maintenance of Shared Spaces
One of the most important aspects of finding the right location for your business is having a solid set of amenities and shared spaces for your customers and clientele to use. According to Mr. Syed, the best landlord & tenant attorney in Queens, this can often be a parking lot, lobby, elevators, escalators, and other spaces that your customers will use in order to better access your business. These areas will need to be maintained, especially in New York City, where snow removal and litter removal are a vital service. You will likely be charged, as all other tenants will be, to maintain these areas. Make sure to negotiate the fees for this maintenance and to make sure you understand the exact schedule by which these areas will be maintained.
Terms of Personal Guarantees
An item that many might not be familiar with within any type of lease agreement is the personal guarantee. This is not always implemented into all lease agreements, however, it is something that you will likely encounter and something to have a solid understanding of. According to Mr. Syed, the top real estate lawyer near me, your landlord will often require that the lease be guaranteed by someone personally as well as your business. The individual selected as the personal guarantor would be responsible for rent and other fees associated with the rental, in the event the business fails to pay its rent or defaults on certain costs. This is becoming a lot more common within commercial lease agreements, but every item should be up for negotiation – so its vital that you have an experienced landlord & tenant attorney like Mr. Syed on your side to help you understand the finer details of this process.
Terms for Renewal and Lease Options
Depending on what you negotiate, the terms for your initial lease may be anywhere from a year, to two years, to ten years. This is generally very specific to your lease agreement and the terms you and your landlord can agree to. The more you have to invest into your business, oftentimes the case for those who might be manufacturing products at their location, or have to install costly equipment at their location, the more likely you are to want a long, and more stable lease agreement in place. During the initial negotiations, it’s important to focus on the immediate and semi-immediate future of your business and its growth. But, you also need to consider the renewal options and growth opportunities that might be present to you moving forward. The worst thing that can happen is that you establish a foothold in an area, and when your lease agreement is up, your landlord hits you with an entirely new set of rules and additional fees that can hamper your business. According to Mr. Syed, the best commercial landlord tenant lawyer Queens has in practice, with a renewal the tenant must simply let the landlord know by a certain date whether or not the tenant will stay for the renewal period. An option is the ability of the tenant to extend the lease but the rent is usually negotiated at the point when the option is exercised.
Before you begin negotiating the terms for your commercial lease, it’s vital that you have an experienced landlord & tenant attorney on your team, and Rajiv Syed has helped countless tenants to navigate the best agreements possible for their new and existing businesses. For more information on all there is to know about commercial lease agreements and more, be sure to contact Rajiv Syed, Esq. today.
