Blogs

Real Estate

Coronavirus Force Majeure and Real Estate Leases

The coronavirus pandemic will affect us in many ways, and we all must be responsible with public health the primary concern, but what do we do with respect to our binding agreements? What do you do when you simply cannot perform for reasons outside of your control? In this post I will briefly review some actions to take from the perspective of a commercial real estate owner or tenant. In addition to assessing risk, following public directives with respect to employees and limiting liability,…

March 16, 2020

Real Estate

Assignment and Consent Standards in Commercial Leases

Assignment provisions in commercial leases are heavily negotiated and very important to both landlords and tenants. This article presents a brief overview of the assignment provision in commercial leases, both office and retail. Assignment provisions in commercial leases are heavily negotiated and very important to both landlords and tenants. When a tenant’s interest in a lease is assigned, the tenant is transferring its entire leasehold interest and 100% of the leased premises to a third…

March 6, 2020

Construction

How is the Local Office Leasing Market Doing a Year After the Amazon HQ2 Announcement?

The Northern Virginia office market had a total vacancy rate of 18.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019. This represents a continuing gradual strengthening of the market as it was the eleventh consecutive quarter with positive net absorption. That said, vacancy rates are still higher than before the great recession ten years ago. Much of…

January 16, 2020

Construction

What will be the Impact of Amazon HQ2 to the Hotel Industry?

The second headquarters for Amazon in Arlington, VA is obviously a hot topic in local commercial real estate. Much of the focus so far has been on projected residential price increases and increased commercial leasing. But, let’s not forget about the hotel industry. The forecast for much higher hotel traffic in the area was the…

July 19, 2019

Construction

​​Five Things to Consider When Leasing to a Restaurant Tenant

As reported by the National Restaurant Association and other industry experts, there are over one million restaurants in the United States, but the failure rate is very high (a majority close within three to five years). With online shopping and delivery becoming more and more prevalent, landlords of all types have faced increasing vacancies for…

July 16, 2019

Construction

Landlord’s Liens in Commercial Leases – Part 2

Landlord Waiver Agreement in Favor of Tenant’s Lender As noted in part 1 of this article, the commercial tenant’s lenders will also want a security interest in the tenant’s personal property to secure the repayment of the tenant’s loan obligations, creating a conflict between the lien rights of the landlord and the lender. Because of…

June 19, 2019

Construction

Landlord’s Liens in Commercial Leases – Part 1

Banks that provide financing for commercial tenants and the real estate landlords for those same tenants both want additional security in the tenant’s personal property located at the premises. The interests of the landlord and the lender are in conflict. The landlord is looking to secure the tenant’s rental obligations by taking a lien against…

June 11, 2019

Construction

Guaranty of Leases: Landlords and Tenants – Part 2

In Part 1 of this series, the definition of guaranty, the relationship between the landlord and guarantor, and the means for landlords to enforce provisions of a guaranty were discussed. Recognizing that the guaranty is a condition to entering into a lease, and its leverage is limited, the guarantor would still like to limit its…

May 22, 2019

Construction

Guaranty of Leases: Landlords and Tenants – Part 1

As a condition to entering into a new lease, landlords often require a guaranty of lease from a personal or corporate guarantor in connection with those tenant entities that do not have either a high enough net worth or annual revenue, or for whatever other reasons do not meet the landlord’s financial criteria. A guaranty…

May 16, 2019

Construction

Arlington County Reviews Residential Parking Working Group Proposals

The Arlington County Board held a work session on July 11th to review and provide feedback on the Residential Parking Working Group’s recommendations for parking minimums in the Rosslyn-Ballston and Jefferson Davis Highway corridors. The group recommended establishing parking minimums in these corridors based on the residential project’s proximity to the Metro. The parking minimums…

July 12, 2017