Commercial Lease Checklist for a First Location: TI, Free Rent, CAM, Exclusives and Guaranty
A commercial lease checklist for a first location lists the terms we advise you to ask for before you sign.
At Reach Commercial Real Estate, we represent tenants. We help you find locations, compare costs, investigate property questions and negotiate the lease. Reach founder Cassandra Hartford has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years and has closed more than 1,500 sales and leases.
This is our guide to the leasing process, from your first conversation with us through taking possession and preparing to open.
Quick answer: what belongs on a commercial lease checklist
A permitted use clause that describes your operation and planned activities.
Lease terms for the buildout. Ask for a permit contingency, a TI allowance and free rent during the buildout.
CAM caps. We ask what the proposed lease includes rather than rely on the label CAM or NNN.
Exclusive use, assignment and renewal options.
A personal guaranty and exit terms.
A written lease. Section 689.01(1) of the Florida Statutes requires an instrument in writing for a term of more than 1 year.
1. Bring us these details before we search
Before we send listings, we need to understand your operation. If you run a coffee shop, will customers use a patio or a drive-thru? If you run a salon, will you add shampoo sinks and nail stations? If you run a music venue, how many people will the room hold, and how late will you stay open?
We start with these details from you:
Your square footage, seating or capacity goal, and equipment list.
Your busiest hours and expected staffing.
Your preferred areas.
Your opening budget and your monthly occupancy budget.
Your target opening date.
The buildout you expect, including landlord work.
The address and listing of any space you have found.
What you will compromise on and what your business needs to function.
You do not need every detail settled. We need enough information to search for your business rather than send every available storefront.
2. Screen each lease offer before you tour
We map headcount, parking, power and signage before you tour. A listing gives us a starting point, and we ask for the information needed to evaluate the property.
For each candidate, we request asking rent and quoted square footage, CAM or NNN estimates and other lease charges, annual rent increases, known use restrictions, sign criteria, proposed landlord work, the improvement allowance, and availability and delivery condition.
If a critical answer is missing, we keep the property under investigation. We do not treat an unanswered question as an approval.
3. Tour and write down what the flyer left out
We tour with you and write down what the flyer left out. During a tour, we look beyond the finishes.
If you run a coffee shop, where will customers enter, order and wait? If you run a boutique or book shop, retail tenants live and die on visibility and co-tenancy. Together, we look at visibility, access, nearby customer destinations, parking, signage and delivery access.
4. Write the use clause for your business
Check whether the proposed permitted use clause describes your operation and planned activities.
A landlord's willingness to lease to your business does not replace the local government's review. Appendix B, Article II, of Melbourne's Code of Ordinances defines uses in words.
Coffee shop: Melbourne's code defines a restaurant as an establishment where food is prepared on the premises, with a fully equipped kitchen in operating condition. Food and non-alcoholic beverages must make up at least 51 percent of gross revenue.
Boutique or book shop: Retailing is selling or renting goods or merchandise to the general public in small lots. It does not include service uses, restaurants and bars.
Salon: Personal service covers services involving the limited care of a person, with beauty shops as an example.
Fitness studio: Indoor recreation includes gymnasiums. It is permitted in C-2 and needs conditional use approval in C-1.
Music venue: A bar or other drinking establishment that is not a restaurant needs conditional use approval to sell or serve alcohol for on-premises consumption.
Tattoo shop: Melbourne's zoning code does not name tattoo studios. The community development director determines whether an unlisted use is allowed in a district.
5. Know what your broker, architect, contractor and attorney each do
Reach handles the search, the cost comparison, the property questions and the business terms of the lease.
Your contractor and design professional evaluate the technical work and cost. Your Florida commercial leasing attorney reviews the legal language and documents.
6. Compare the full cost and CAM caps of each location
We compare more than base rent. Your occupancy review should include base rent, CAM and other additional charges, scheduled increases, utilities, repairs and maintenance assigned to you, construction and equipment installation, deposits, and rent due before opening.
CAM means common area maintenance. NNN generally refers to property tax, insurance and maintenance charges. CAM caps are on our lease checklist, and we advise you to ask for each term on it.
No state sales tax or discretionary sales surtax applies to rent or license fees for rental or occupancy periods beginning on or after October 1, 2025, according to the Florida Department of Revenue's Tax Information Publication 25A01-04.
See How to Read the CAM and NNN Section of a Lease. See also How to Work Out Your Real Monthly Occupancy Cost.
7. Ask for a permit contingency, a TI allowance and free rent
You can ask for a permit contingency, a TI allowance and free rent during the buildout.
Approval contingencies: what protections should you request for zoning, permits, financing and construction feasibility? Rent commencement: when does rent begin, and how does the agreement address permitting, landlord work and construction delays?
Melbourne's Building Section says commercial construction permits typically average 14 to 21 working days for approval or response on a single review.
Landlord work versus tenant work is a lease term on our checklist. Under 28 CFR 36.201(b), allocation of responsibility for ADA compliance may be determined by lease or other contract. An allowance, rent-free period or other concession only helps when the written terms fit your project.
See How to Ask for Free Rent While You Build Out. See also How to Ask for a Tenant Improvement Allowance. See also How to Add a Permit Contingency to Your Lease.
8. Negotiate the clauses that bite later
Our negotiation covers rent and concessions first, then the clauses that bite later: CAM caps, HVAC, escalations and assignment. We negotiate rent, free rent, tenant improvement dollars, renewal options and who pays for the roof.
Exclusive use, personal guaranty and exit terms, and assignment are on our checklist.
If a tenant fails to pay the rent on premises other than a dwelling unit, the lessor has the right to obtain possession as provided by law (section 83.05(1), Florida Statutes). A person to whom rent is due has a lien on all other property of the lessee or the lessee's sublessee or assigns, usually kept on the premises (section 83.08(2)).
See How to Review a Personal Guaranty in a Commercial Lease. See also How to Negotiate Renewal Options and Assignment in a Lease.
9. Have your attorney review the lease and keep the dates aligned
Your Florida commercial leasing attorney reviews the legal language and documents. Once you select a property, we negotiate the business terms.
After signing, your contractor and design team manage plans, permits and construction. We stay focused on the lease-related items. Keep track of possession and delivery dates, landlord work, improvement-allowance submissions, construction deadlines, insurance requirements and rent commencement.
A building cannot be used or occupied until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy (Florida Building Code, Building, section 111.1). Your reviewing agencies confirm when you have satisfied their opening requirements.
Extra items to add to your lease checklist
Equipment a former tenant left behind. Before assigning value to a former cafe's sinks, counter and equipment, we ask who owns them, what records exist and whether your team finds them suitable for your operation.
Co-tenants and peak-hour parking. Our checklist covers co-tenants that bring customers, visibility, and parking at peak hours.
A sign permit. Signage work requires a permit, according to Melbourne's Building Section FAQ. For each candidate, we request the sign criteria.
Off-site parking. Outside Melbourne's CB-OZ overlay, no more than 50 percent of required parking can be off-site, and those spaces must be within 500 feet under a recorded binding lot agreement (Section 9.75).
County paperwork. In unincorporated Brevard County, a Notice of Commencement is required if job value exceeds $5,000, and impact fees are due before pre-power or final inspection.
Schedule changes. If the project schedule changes, raise the lease implications early, and review the documents with your attorney rather than assume a delay changes your payment obligations.
Start your search with Reach
You do not need to find the property before calling us. In most deals the landlord pays our fee.
Call 321-514-0876 with your requirements, budget, preferred area and target opening date, or with the address of a space you have found.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is rent for periods before October 1, 2025 still taxed?
The Department of Revenue publication lists rent or license fee payments for rental or occupancy periods through September 2025 as excluded from the repeal, even if payment is made on or after October 1, 2025.
Does a Florida lease for more than one year need witnesses?
A lease for a term of more than 1 year has to be in writing (Florida Statutes, section 689.01(1)). No subscribing witnesses are required for a lease of real property.
What notice does Florida require when rent goes unpaid on premises other than a dwelling unit?
Florida's holdover rule covers a tenant who stays without permission after defaulting on rent, once a 3-day written notice to pay the rent or give up the space has been served (Florida Statutes, section 83.20(2)).
Sources
Written by Cassandra Hartford, founder and CEO of Reach Commercial Real Estate. She has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years, representing buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants across Florida's Space Coast.
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