Determining Your Commercial Property Location Needs

Determining The Location of Your Commercial Lease

Very often, tenants do not give enough thought to the physical positioning of their office. In order to best solidify a tenants need, a tenant should ask, "what is most important to me in finding an office space location?" This question contains many different answers and varies from person to person.

A tenant may say that proximity to a major transportation zone such as Penn Station or Union Square or Grand central station is key.

A tenant may also feel that the overall aesthetics of the area are crucial. In this case, a client who feels that Soho matches the overall aesthetic quality of the company may not want to consider space in the garment district as an option as the aesthetics of both areas vary greatly.

Another tenant may simply say that a competitive price is most important. In this case a tenant would most likely fit their needs in an area like the garment district as opposed to the Plaza District or Tribeca.

A client may also simply look for proximity to trendy restaurants for client entertainment purposes or for proximity to competitors. Whatever your needs may be, it is important to truly understand the factors that shape where you'd like to operate your business.

What is a Good Guy Clause?

A good guy clause is a document that is attached to nearly every commercial lease in New York at this point. This clause has many variations; however, in its essence, a good guy clause is a limited form of a personal guarantee. A good guy clause can be explained with the following scenario:

Let's say that Michael is looking for a space from which he can run his company called ABC Architects, LLC. A good guy clause basically states that ABC Architects, LLC will pay rent to the landlord in a timely fashion. However, if at any point ABC Architects stops paying rent to the landlord while physically remaining and operating in the space, at that point Michael must personally pay rent to the landlord for every month he remains in that unit. If Michael would like to avoid personally owing rent to the landlord, he must be fully current in monthly rent payments for the time his company has occupied the space. He must then vacate the premises, remove the company's furniture and all belongings from the unit, and deliver the keys back to the landlord. At that point, the landlord may still have the right to sue ABC Architects, LLC for rent due. However, he cannot personally sue Michael for rent due since Michael vacated the space with the corporate entity being current in rent.

Make sure you work with a broker who can represent your needs fully and is experienced in dealing with all aspects of commercial real estate. Contact Erik Nissani of Willow Stone Realty to find out how he can work for you.