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Q An employee of a tenant at the office building I own is suing me for negligence, claiming that my property manager's failure to repair a loose step caused the employee to fall down a stairway, injuring his back and neck. The manager had recently fixed other loose steps on the staircase, but hadn't noticed a problem with the step that later injured the employee. Could I be liable for his accident even though the step had become faulty since the original repairs?
Q A medical clinic tenant in my strip mall renewed its lease only because I orally agreed that it could continue to sublet a portion of its space to a blood lab that serves the clinic's patients. Now, I have a lucrative offer from a franchised blood lab that's a competitor of the clinic's lab. But the franchised lab won't rent the large space it's interested in from me as long as the clinic's lab is operating.
Q Several of the tenants in my shopping center have been displaying political signs supporting certain candidates in their windows. Other tenants are upset about this and have asked me to remove the signs, and prevent candidates from campaigning in the center's common areas. Is it legal for me to prohibit these signs and activities? Can I negotiate a clause in future and renewed leases banning this type of electioneering?
Q A prospective tenant responded to an ad that I placed for vacant space in the office building I own. It needed 10,000 square feet to accommodate its employees and equipment, and had budgeted roughly $8,500 per month for base rent. The tenant told me that the space was the exact square footage it needed and that it would pay the asking price of $10 per square foot. The tenant figured that 10,000 square feet multiplied by $10 per square foot equaled $100,000 per year, or $8,333.33 per month.
Q I lease the second floor of my two-story commercial building to a dance studio. I would like to include the stairs leading to the dance studio in the square footage. Is it customary, or even legal, to include stairs leading to a second story office or retail property when calculating the square feet to be leased? What if the stairs are the only access to the leased area?
Q A government agency has approached me about leasing space in my office building. I am considering the idea, but I've heard that government agency tenants have more specific requirements than typical commercial property tenants. What criteria and costs might be involved?
Q I'm negotiating with a supermarket tenant to open a supermarket at my center. The tenant owns supermarkets under various trade names around the country, and those stores operate either high-end (high-priced) models or low-end (low-priced) models. I want the tenant to operate a supermarket at my center under a specific trade name for a high-end model. But its lease form doesn't indicate which trade name the tenant will operate under at my center. What should I do?
Q I know that under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), buildings open to the public must be accessible to people with disabilities. If any part of the building I own, including space leased by a tenant, does not comply with the ADA, who is responsible for bringing the building or space into compliance—the tenant(s) or me?
Q A tenant has asked for permission to sublet its space to a third party. Our lease contains an assignment/subletting clause that allows me to deny the tenant's request and to recapture the space. In this case, I would prefer to recapture the space that the tenant proposes to sublet, instead of allowing the tenant to sublet it. What procedures should I follow to do so?
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