How to Negotiate Renewal Options and Assignment in a Lease
Renewal options and assignment rights are lease terms we advise you to ask for.
At Reach Commercial Real Estate, we represent tenants. We help you find locations, compare costs, investigate property questions and negotiate the lease. You bring your business plans. We help you evaluate where those plans fit.
This guide covers when to start, the lease terms we negotiate and two Florida statutes: section 689.01 on leases in writing and section 83.08 on the landlord's lien.
1. Start before your landlord sends the renewal letter
Start nine to twelve months before your lease ends. Eighteen if you need a buildout.
Your landlord knows what it costs you to move. You should know what else is out there before they send the renewal letter.
Our work covers new leases and renewals. Sometimes staying is the right call.
2. Ask for renewal options and assignment rights
Term and renewal options are on our lease checklist, and so is assignment. We advise you to ask for each term on the checklist.
We negotiate rent, free rent, tenant improvement dollars, renewal options and who pays for the roof.
Our negotiation covers rent and concessions first. Then it covers the clauses that bite later: CAM caps, HVAC, escalations and assignment.
3. Put the terms in the written lease
Section 689.01(1), Florida Statutes, requires an instrument in writing for an estate or interest for a term of more than 1 year.
Once you select a property, we negotiate the business terms. Your Florida commercial leasing attorney reviews the legal language and documents.
Our role is to help bring these findings into your property decision. Your qualified professionals and reviewing agencies determine the requirements.
Extra items to check
Moving math. We pull comparable space and run the moving math, so you go into the renewal with real alternatives.
The roof. We negotiate who pays for the roof, along with rent, free rent, tenant improvement dollars and renewal options.
Business tax receipt. The Brevard County Tax Collector says an online application should be completed within 30 days for any change to the current account you have on file.
Start your search with Reach
You do not need to find the property before calling us. Helping you find and evaluate the property is part of our work.
Bring your requirements, budget, preferred area and target opening date. Lease coming up? Call before the renewal letter does. We will use those details to build your search, compare locations and negotiate the lease. In most deals the landlord pays our fee.
Already found a space? Send me the address and listing. We will start with the property questions and deal terms you need to investigate.
Cassandra Hartford, Reach Commercial Real Estate, 321-514-0876, cassandra@reachcommercialre.com, 909 E New Haven Ave #300, Melbourne, FL 32901.
See tenant representation and the leasing guide.
Related: the space needs analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a broker help renew a current lease instead of moving?
Yes. We pull comparable space so you know your options, then negotiate the renewal with that information.
Does a Florida lease for more than one year need witnesses?
Section 689.01(1) requires an instrument in writing for an interest for a term of more than 1 year. The statute adds that no subscribing witnesses are required for a lease of real property or any such instrument pertaining to a lease of real property.
Does the landlord's lien for rent reach the property of a sublessee or an assign?
Section 83.08(2) gives a lien for rent upon all other property of the lessee or his or her sublessee or assigns, usually kept on the premises. The statute says this lien is superior to any lien acquired subsequent to the bringing of the property on the premises leased.
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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