What are some must haves in a lease? About to start negotiating a new lease.

[Andrew McGregor]

I just passed my 1 year mark as a first time laundromat owner and I’m getting to the point in my plan where I need to make some serious capital investments (new flooring, new folding tables, some new machines…). With only a year left on my lease and a 1 year option to renew after that, I didn’t feel comfortable making these large expenses without a longer lease. So I asked for a lease extension of 10 years. Landlord said he would consider and is working on a new draft of sorts to try to project market conditions a decade from now. Things like CPI based rent increases and CAM fees. The lease is a triple net lease. I pay $8.50/sf in rent and $3.09/sf in addition rent that covers CAM, tax, insurance, and replacement reserve.

I am very new to commercial leases and am curious as to what are some must haves in a lease that are things that most likely have to be specifically asked for? Things that the landlord isn’t going to just give and things that most people wouldn’t even think or know about but are extremely beneficial.

I am glad that the landlord is looking at the 10 year lease extension but I also know that I don’t want to be there for 10 years. My plan was to revamp a run down laundromat, sell it when I was ready for living location change, and do it again someplace else. I recently listened to esp. 92 of the podcast with Jason Foster where he explained that he successfully negotiated a longer lease but had a clause letting him get out if needed. How is something like that structured?

Thank you.

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