A smaller tenant that's negotiating a lease for space in your shopping center may want to negotiate a cotenancy clause that requires you to rent to a “national retailer.” You may be willing to include such a clause, especially if you're already negotiating a lease with a specific national tenant. But if that deal falls through and you end up renting to a tenant that's well known, but operates in only one region of the country, your smaller tenant may claim that you've violated the cotenancy requirement in its lease.

Q Several tenants have already moved into the shopping center I own, although parts of the center are still under construction. When the project is complete, the center will consist of five freestanding buildings. One tenant's lease has an opening co-tenancy requirement permitting it to pay only half of its monthly rent if less than 50 percent of the center is leased, and to continue paying reduced rent until the opening co-tenancy requirement is met.