Commercial Lease Consultation: A Second Read of Your Proposal Before You Sign

What the broker reviews in your proposal or draft

• The economics: asking rent, free months and the allowance, restated as effective rent across the term so the proposal can be held against other floors.
• Escalations: the annual percentage, and the base year for tax and operating increases.
• Electricity: how it is billed, and at what rate.
• Options: renewal, expansion and any early exit, each with its notice window.
• The sublet clause: the consent standard, and whether the landlord can recapture the space.
• Restoration: what the document says you must remove at the end.
• The relocation clause: whether the landlord can move you during the term, most common on partial floors in larger buildings.

When to ask: before the letter of intent, not after the lease arrives

The useful moment is the proposal. Both sides still have other options then, and a number moves in an email. Once the letter of intent is signed, the economics are on the record and a landlord rarely reopens them. Once the lease draft has arrived, the conversation belongs to the attorneys and every change costs time.

A consultation on a lease draft is still worth having. It checks that the draft matches what was agreed and catches what the draft leaves undefined. It simply has less room to work. The negotiation guide shows where each term is settled.

What to bring to the consultation

• The proposal, the letter of intent or the lease draft, whichever is latest.
• Your headcount plan for the coming 12 to 18 months, so the size and any expansion right can be tested against it.
• Your current lease, if you have one. Its expiry date, holdover rate and restoration duty set how much time and leverage you have.
• Anything the landlord has put in writing about delivery, the buildout or the guarantee.

Send them with the form on this page. A broker reaches out within the hour during business hours to set up the read.

What you leave with: every flag priced, fixed or dropped

A consultation reduces risk by turning a vague worry into a decision. Each item we flag comes back with one of three recommendations.

• Price it. Some terms are acceptable for the right concession. A relocation clause, for instance, can be worth taking if the deal reflects it.
• Fix it. Restoration scope, the consent standard, the base year and guarantee wording are repaired with a sentence before signing.
• Walk away. A landlord who will not define how you exit has told you something early.

You also leave with a list of the legal points to hand your attorney: default, indemnity, insurance and the wording of the guarantee. The floors on this page fit roughly 30 people, in case the review shows your proposal deserves a second option. Lease red flags covers the flags in depth.