Don't Get Slam Dunked
Remember that Landlords treat a renewal Tenant as a slam dunk and Tenants who treat Lease renewals as if it were new premises come out with far better rental rates than those who don’t.
Lease renewal is also a time to renegotiate Lease terms that favour your company. A Tenant who has paid its rent on time is most often preferred by a Landlord to the alternative which is vacant space and large Tenant allowances that must be paid to attract a new and unknown Tenant.
This is the time to correct those clauses in the Lease that were missed the first time because you didn’t have the negotiating leverage you now have acquired by being a good Tenant!
Use a Tenant Rep Broker When Renewing
It has been my experience that most Tenants engage real estate brokers only when they are deciding to relocate. This seems to make sense as they know the Landlord and can save a real estate commission.
This may be a false economy as a Landlord is less liable to give a Tenant as good a rental deal as it will when it is negotiating with a Tenant’s real estate broker. In most cases, this will be significantly better than self-negotiation, no matter how good a Tenant may be at negotiation. Some of the biggest savings I have negotiated for Tenants have been as a result of renewal negotiations.
In one case it was $5 million over 10 years for an 80,000 foot tenant, Harlequin Publishing.
Not chicken feed. Other smaller tenants have done well too.
Best part is it costs nothing to get me working for you!