The most expensive clause in your commercial lease isn’t the rent

When tenants review a lease proposal, their attention almost always goes to the same place first: the rent.

That’s understandable. Rent is easy to see, easy to compare and easy to negotiate. It feels like the most important number in the deal.

But after decades of representing commercial tenants, I can say this with confidence: The most expensive clause in your lease is rarely the rent.

In fact, I’ve seen tenants negotiate aggressively on rental rate, only to give back far more value through clauses they barely noticed...