The Commercial Tenant Guide

Step One: Define the Requirement in Writing

• Usable square footage, layout, ceiling height, power and amperage, HVAC tonnage, plumbing, grease or venting needs, and floor load.
• Parking ratio at your busiest hour, loading and dock access, and truck turning if you receive freight.
• Signage rights and visibility, which for retail is often worth more than rate.
• Customer and employee access, safety, and proximity to your workforce.
• Required occupancy date, and what a delay actually costs your business per month.
• Growth: how much room you will need in year three, and whether you would rather move or expand in place.

Step Two: Compare Total Occupancy Cost, Not Rate

Two spaces at the same quoted rate can differ substantially once the structure is understood. We build a written comparison for every option.

• Understand the structure: triple net, modified gross, industrial gross, or full service, and exactly which expenses you carry.
• Ask for the last two years of operating expense history and the current year estimate. Request a cap on controllable expenses.
• Confirm how square footage is measured and whether you are paying a load factor for common area.
• Include utilities, janitorial, security, trash, pest control, and your own HVAC maintenance obligation.
• Amortize your buildout cost and moving cost across the term and add it to the rate.
• Add the cost of downtime between your current lease ending and your new space opening.

Step Three: The Clauses That Matter Most

• Term, free rent, and rent escalations, including whether increases are fixed or indexed.
• Tenant improvement allowance: the amount, who performs the work, who controls the contractor, and when it is funded.
• Delivery condition and commencement. Rent should not begin before the space is genuinely usable and permitted.
• Renewal options with a defined rate mechanism, plus expansion, right of first refusal, and relocation limits.
• Assignment and sublease rights, which protect you if you sell the business or need to exit.
• Personal guaranty scope. Negotiate a burn off, a cap, or a limited term rather than accepting an unlimited guaranty by default.
• Exclusive use, co tenancy where relevant, permitted hours, and any restriction on your signage or operations.
• Casualty, condemnation, insurance requirements, and who repairs the roof, structure, parking, and HVAC.

Step Four: Buildout, Permits, and Opening on Time

The most common cause of a late opening is not construction. It is permitting and long lead equipment. We build the schedule backward from your opening date.

• Walk the space with your contractor and, when needed, an architect, before you sign.
• Confirm the use is permitted and what the certificate of occupancy will require, including restroom count, egress, ADA, and fire suppression.
• Identify long lead items early: HVAC units, electrical gear, kitchen equipment, and millwork.
• Put the landlord's work and your work in writing as separate exhibits with dates.
• Confirm who pays for permits, and who is responsible if the city requires an upgrade nobody anticipated.

Step Five: Before You Sign and After You Open

• Have your attorney review the lease. I will assemble the business terms and the comparison, and your counsel should review the language.
• Diary every date: commencement, rent start, option deadlines, and notice periods. Missing a renewal notice can cost you the space.
• Keep the fully executed lease, all exhibits, and the delivery documentation together.
• Photograph the space at delivery to protect yourself at the end of term over restoration and wear.
• Revisit market rate a year before your option deadline so you negotiate from information.

How I Work: Transparency, Integrity, and Privacy

Your growth plans, your financials, and your guaranty capacity are shared only as far as securing the deal requires, and only with your approval. I will tell you when a space is wrong for your operation even when it is the easiest deal on the table.