We have represented clients in a multitude of lease transactions, including office leases, shopping center leases, leases for sit-down and quick-serve restaurants, ground leases for major commercial developments, and maritime terminal leases. Examples include:

• More than 100 leases for a local retailer on a national roll-out;
• A ground lease for a high-rise office building in San Francisco; and
• A 200,000 square foot office lease renewal.

We have negotiated leases with major national tenants such as Tiffany, Pottery Barn, Bank of America, Nordstrom, Safeway, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Walgreen’s, and on behalf of some of the largest big box retail tenants in the world.

There is a wide variety in the scope and complexity of commercial leases, and we have dealt with nearly all of them. We recognize that a “triple net” retail lease, or a “fully-serviced” office lease, may mean different things in different markets, and so the attorneys must make sure that the parties are all talking about the same thing.

Similarly, ground leases are somewhat different animals, in that they tend to be very deal-specific, are usually meant to be financeable by the tenant, and acknowledge the risk being taken by the typical ground tenant by affording the tenant more freedom and flexibility in its use of the premises.

In short, every lease is different, and every deal is different. The so-called standard forms may provide a good starting point, but there is no substitute for reviewing each lease and negotiating the provisions that don’t fit, or are unduly unfavorable to whichever side of the deal the client is on. What really matters is that the lease accurately documents the terms of the deal as agreed to by the parties, and covers as broad a spectrum of contingencies as is consistent with the magnitude of the deal.

We have extensive experience representing both landlords and tenants, so we have a strong awareness of both sides’ concerns in a lease, as well as the kinds of compromises and concessions that are typically agreed to by landlords and tenants. This allows us to focus on the possible, without wasting time and effort on negotiating points that the other side will never yield on.