Recently, several clients, including some in University City, hired me as their attorney to review commercial leases for them.
If you are starting a new business, shopping around for better space or renewing an existing lease, it is important to remember that every commercial lease is different. Unlike when buying a home, standard commercial form contracts are not widely used in St. Louis.
This is likely due to the fact that commercial deals are all very different. For instance, restaurants, medical offices and retail shops, all have very different needs and expectations.
I have reviewed commercial leases that are in excess of fifty pages and those that are barely five pages long. You can imagine how different those are!
Additionally, many terms are more negotiable than you might think. Negotiating terms, however, means that you must know their legal import.
If you have commercial leasing in your future, I would encourage you to start early and get your attorney involved, ideally up to six months prior to the effective date. The closer you get to deadlines, the less bargaining power you will have.
There is plenty of great rentable commercial space up and down Delmar and Olive in University City, as well as on some of our side streets, and the deals available might be even better than you imagine, if negotiated fully.
If you have an area of the law you would like explained, please email your questions to myra.lopez@patch.com. Marc will try to respond to a question from our readers in his column. www.MarcJacobEsq.com.
