If you consider becoming a Subtenant in Austin, Round Rock, Denver, Boulder or anywhere else, it’s critical to look deeper than the discounted rental rates and free furniture. Look out for these sixteen potholes that could wreck your Sublease or Sublet opportunity.
The Devil is truly in the details when you’re trying to sublease a new workspace for your company, professional practice, non-profit organization or government agency.
A wise Subtenant, Sublessee or Assignee should carefully check the road ahead before signing off on a Sublease Agreement or an Assignment of Lease. Thorough and smart due diligence is required to prevent problems down the road.
As a 100% Tenant Representative, without conflicts of interest, I’ll identify sixteen (16) risks here that you and your real estate attorney should carefully evaluate and mitigate before your organization signs an agreement to occupy someone else’s used workspace. In this blog article, I refer mostly to Subleases and Sublets but you should assume that the same advice also applies to Assignments of Leases in North America.
Risk #1 – Determine the Sublandlord’s Financial Stability
The first critical step for a Subtenant is to perform proper due diligence on the Sublandlord or Sublessor. Make a concerted effort to determine the Sublandlord’s financial stability and staying power. Absent those, a Sublease Agreement might not be worth the paper on which it’s printed.
If the Sublandlord is a privately held entity, it may even be necessary for the Subtenant to request and review the Sublandlord’s financial statements. As a potential Subtenant, you also need to be prepared to present your own entity’s financial statements to both the Sublandlord and the Master Landlord early in the process, the sooner the better.
Note: If your company or practice is a private entity and you want to protect the confidentiality of your own financial statements, ask both the Sublandlord and the Master Landlord to sign Non-disclosure Agreements (NDAs). Please call me if you need a good NDA form; we have one that most Sublessors and Lessors will agree to sign.
If the Tenant / Sublandlord cannot afford to pay its full rent to the Master Landlord, then your hot Sublease or Sublet opportunity would likely be short lived. To make matters worse, an unfortunate Subtenant in such a situation might receive notice from the Master Landlord either to pay full market rental rates for the space or to vacate the building with only thirty (30) days’ notice.
Risk #2 – Seek to Prevent a Buy-out of the Master Lease by the Sublandlord
This is a big “Gotcha” because it’s at the foundation of a Sublease. The Subtenant should not allow a Termination or Cancellation of the Master Lease, including via a future Lease Buy-out between your Sublandlord and Master Landlord, since it would also terminate the Sublease. (There goes your hot Sublease deal, drifting upwards in a haze of smoke.) In the Sublease Agreement, the Subtenant should specifically ask the Sublandlord to agree to forego a Lease Buy-out / Termination / Cancellation with the Master Landlord, unless the Subtenant would first approve it in writing.
A Subtenant needs to find out as soon as possible if a Lease Buy-out is the Sublandlord’s real intention. If it is, then you might be wasting valuable time fooling with this space at all. On the other hand, if you are ultimately looking for a “subsidized” Direct Lease with a Landlord, then a Sublease opportunity that leads to a Lease Buy-out for the Tenant / Sublandlord just might be your cup of tea. Why? Because the Landlord’s cash settlement from the Sublandlord’s Lease Buy-out might allow the Landlord to subsidize your new Direct Lease in some manner, say, with some free rent, moving allowance and/or a higher tenant improvement (TI) allowance.
Risk #3 – Don’t Agree to Everything in the Master Lease
As a prospective Subtenant, you can’t change the Tenant / Sublandlord’s Master Lease. But you don’t necessarily have to agree to everything contained in the Master Lease. It’s OK to leave certain obligations in the Master Lease to the Sublandlord and not to accept them as the Subtenant. However, in the Sublease Agreement, you’ll specifically have to negotiate to exempt the Subtenant from any unacceptable provisions of the Master Lease and essentially make them not applicable to you.
Risk #4 – Don’t Agree to Restore Tenant Improvements to “Original Condition”
Be very careful as the Subtenant not to agree to restore the Sublandlord’s original Tenant Improvements (“TIs”) back to their “original condition,” which means before your Sublandlord signed its Master Lease. Most Subleases occur on an “as-is, where-is” basis, so it could be incredibly expensive for a Subtenant to get to the end of its Sublease Term only to find out that it’s responsible for the costs to “restore the Premises to its original condition.” That obligation, if it applies, should remain with the Tenant / Sublandlord, not with you as the Subtenant.
Risk #5 – “License” Use of Existing IT Network Cabling
When Tenants move out of leased Office spaces, many Office Landlords now require that they remove all IT Network Cabling installed above the ceiling, so that it doesn’t cause a fire hazard or a “Spaghetti Factory” that will later have to be demolished at the Landlord’s expense. Consequently, if a Subtenant is going to re-use a Sublandlord’s IT Network Cabling in the Sublease Premises, then the Subtenant should not agree to a “transfer of ownership” or “sale” of the IT Cabling. Instead, the Subtenant should negotiate a simple “License Agreement” to use the cabling during the Sublease Term. Otherwise, the Subtenant might get stuck with a big surprise bill to remove all of the IT Cabling at the end of its Sublease Term. To learn more about this subject, please read our blog article titled How to handle IT cabling and your lease the right way.
Risk #6 – Don’t Agree to All of the Master Landlord’s Remedies for Defaults
The Sublandlord’s Master Lease typically has a section about “Landlord’s Remedies in the Event of Default by Tenant.” Read the Landlord’s Remedies with a very critical eye. As the Subtenant, understand that you don’t have to carte blanche grant the Sublandlord exactly the same remedies in your Sublease. You might need to carve out or exempt the Subtenant from certain Landlord’s Remedies noted in the Master Lease. Leave such remedies only in effect between the Master Landlord and the Tenant / Sublandlord.
For example, the Subtenant should not be exposed to paying the Master Landlord back for the cost of any unamortized Tenant Improvements that were originally built-out for the Tenant / Sublandlord. The same goes for avoiding the Subtenant’s exposure to payback of the Tenant / Sublandlord’s free rent, moving allowance and any other concessions that could become part of the Landlord’s Remedies due to a Default of the Master Lease. These remedies could add up to big bucks and the Subtenant really shouldn’t suffer exposure to them.
Risk #7 – Negotiate Right to Remain in the Sublease Premises
In the Master Landlord’s Consent to the Sublease, which is almost always required by the Master Lease, the Subtenant should try to negotiate a right to remain in the Sublease Premises if the Master Lease might be terminated or cancelled during the Sublease Term, say, due to an uncured default by your Sublandlord.
Of course, the question immediately arises, what would the Subtenant’s rental rates be if the Master Lease were terminated? There could be several solutions, including simply the same rates as noted in the Sublease Agreement or perhaps new ones negotiated at the “Then Fair Market Rental Rates” at the time of the termination. However, in the case of negotiated rates, it’s advisable for the Subtenant to get them paired with the “Baseball Method of Arbitration,” just in case the Subtenant and the Master Landlord cannot reach an accord on the Then Fair Market Rental Rates.
Under the Baseball Method of Arbitration, it would become a “winner takes all” situation because an Arbitrator(s) would select either the Master Landlord or the Subtenant’s proposed rental rates, typically without any averaging of the parties’ proposed rental rates.
Risk #8 – Seek Rights to Sub-sublease the Space
For the Subtenant’s future flexibility, you should also attempt to negotiate rights to re-sublease or re-assign the Sublease Premises (including a portion of it) to a successor Subtenant(s) or Assignee(s). If you can win this provision, which might not be possible in many situations, then you’ll likely still have to obtain the written consent of the Sublandlord and probably the Master Landlord, too. If so, then you or your real estate attorney should seek to cause such consent in the Sublease Agreement and the Master Landlord’s Consent to Sublease “not to be unreasonably withheld, delayed or conditioned” by the other party.
Five (5) business days would be a short timeframe to obtain approval from each of the Sublandlord and Master Landlord; ten (10) business days in total. In a Sub-sublease Agreement, it’s a good idea to specify the time allowed to obtain written approvals / consent. Otherwise, too much time could kill your pending deal with a Sub-subtenant.
Risk #8 might be difficult to mitigate in a Sublease Agreement, so normally I would not recommend making it a “deal breaker” issue.
Risk #9 – Try to Retain Sublandlord’s Rights to Renew & Expand
To be fully forthcoming, we have never tried too hard to mitigate this risk due to the very low likelihood of achieving success. Nevertheless, could a very creditworthy, attractive Subtenant get the Master Landlord to agree not to extinguish the Tenant / Sublandlord’s Rights to Renew and Rights to Expand? Almost all of the time, both of these rights in the Master Lease go away when a Sublease or Assignment occurs. If the Subtenant or Assignee is a bigger, more creditworthy entity than the Tenant / Sublandlord, then a Master Landlord just might waive its rights in the Master Lease to eliminate the Sublandlord or Assignor’s Rights to Renewals and Expansions.
Risk #10 – Remove Future Conflict over Tenant Improvements
Technical though it may be, this risk could potentially come into play. Let’s say that the Sublease and Master Lease both expire but the Subtenant wants to remain in the Sublease Premises and sign a new Direct Lease with the Master Landlord. What happens to the existing Tenant Improvements, which the Subtenant wants to keep in place, if the Tenant / Sublandlord is required under its Master Lease to restore the Premises to “original condition” upon expiration of the Master Lease?
Obviously, the Sublease Agreement and/or the Landlord’s Consent to Sublease need to address this possibility upfront in writing and you as the Subtenant should not wait until expiration of the Master Lease to attempt to unravel this conflict in your favor. It could be an expensive pothole waiting down the road and you should repair it upfront.
Risk #11 – Get Rights to Cure Sublandlord’s Defaults
The Subtenant should seek to obtain Rights to Cure Defaults of the Master Lease by the Tenant / Sublandlord, which also requires that the Subtenant would receive a timely written Notice from the Master Landlord of any Default by the Tenant / Sublandlord. This, however, does not deal with an important aspect of curing a Sublandlord’s Default of the Master Lease, which is how would the Subtenant get repaid by the Tenant / Sublandlord for curing such a Default? Consequently, the Notice provision also needs to be paired with a reimbursement provision to make the Subtenant whole.
Risk #12 – Attempt to Win Right to Self Help if Sublandlord Defaults
As part of mitigating Risk #11, the Subtenant should also seek the Right of Self Help as part of its Rights to Cure. This would allow the Subtenant to perform any necessary remedial or repair work and then deduct from its Sublease Rent in order to get reimbursed by the Sublandlord for the Subtenant’s reasonable expenses. However, I note that getting a Right of Self Help is not easy or common, although in principle, it should be easier for a Subtenant to achieve than for a Direct Tenant dealing with a Landlord. Rather than being able to deduct from its Sublease Rent, a Subtenant might have to negotiate a different process for getting reimbursed by the Sublandlord for curing the Sublandlord’s Default of the Master Lease.
Risk #13 – Negotiate Higher Liability Limit on Sublandlord’s Indemnification
To see what the Subtenant’s recourse would be in the event of a Default of the Master Lease by the Tenant / Sublandlord, the Subtenant should look carefully at the “Indemnification Provision” in the Master Lease. Typically, a Master Lease would limit the Master Landlord’s liability exposure to the Master Landlord’s “interest in the Property.” Essentially, this means the Master Landlord’s equity value in the Property, which could potentially be very low if the Property has been recently refinanced.
Consequently, if this same provision would pass-through the Sublease Agreement to the Subtenant, it would also apply to the Subtenant in the event of a Default by the Sublandlord. If so, then a Subtenant’s financial recourse against its Sublandlord would be limited to the “Sublandlord’s interest in the Property.” Unfortunately, the value of the Sublandlord’s interest would only be the Sublandlord’s Master Lease, which would be worth almost nothing. Therefore, the Subtenant should seek to negotiate a higher liability limit from the Sublandlord in the Sublease Agreement.
Risk #14 – Protect Against Government Shutdowns of Nonessential Businesses & Reduced Occupancy Rules
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, many Office and Retail Tenants have lost the ability to fully utilize their workspaces due to government shutdowns of certain non-essential business activities and/or restrictions on occupancy by Tenants’ employees, clients/customers and other visitors.
In stressful times, without having the full use of their buildings or theIr Subleased Premises, it hurts Subtenants to have to pay Sublandlords for their full rents. The following language could potentially take some of the pain out of a pandemic or disaster situation:
During the term of the Sublease, in the event that local, county, state and/or federal governments shall (a) issue a mandated closure of businesses, professional practices and/or government agencies or (b) require them to reduce occupancy of their premises by employees, staff, clients or customers, the Subtenant will only be required to pay the Sublandlord for the Landlord-paid Operating Expenses (“Operating Expenses”) or Additional Rent (“Additional Rent”) for the Subleased Premises (with no other penalties, charges or fees owed by Subtenant) until such time as the government mandate, rules and/or regulations shall be terminated.
With this or similar language, a Subtenant could potentially seek some rent relief due to government restrictions on using a Subtenant’s leased workspace. However, the Subtenant would still cover the Master Landlord’s Operating Expense pass-throughs or Additional Rent required from the Sublandlord/Master Tenant. This would not necessarily be easy language to negotiate in a Sublease Agreement but a Subtenant should still make an effort to win such beneficial language.
Risk #15 – You Don’t Vacate the Subleased Premises on Time
When your Sublease or Assignment Term expires, you’ve got to vacate your Sublease Space on time, no ifs ands or buts. Not only will being late trigger the Holdover Provision of your Sublease Agreement, it will also activate the Master Lease Holdover Provision of your Sublandlord. This can double your rent overnight, plus it can make you subject to damages that you cause to your Sublandlord under the Master Lease.
Consequently, unless you are planning to do a Direct Lease with the Master Landlord for your Subleased Premises, then you’ve got to have another space ready for your immediate occupancy elsewhere. Your New Lease or Sublease Agreement must be fully executed and delivered and the Tenant Improvements, if any are needed, must be completed, with a Certificate of Occupancy in-hand.
At least six (6) months before your Sublease or Assignment expires, you should be calling your Tenant Representative, Tenant Agent, Tenant Broker or Tenant Advisor to help you to find and to negotiate for a new workspace. It needs to be ready on time, with no room for screw ups or forgiveness.
Risk #16 – Industrial Subtenants, Protect Yourself from HazMat Contamination by Sublandlord & Others
An Industrial Tenant does not want to step into a Subleased Warehouse or Lab that might have been contaminated by the Sublandlord or even prior Tenants. Ask your attorney to carefully weed out your exposure to liabilities and damages that could have been caused by other Occupiers before you. Don’t count on your Sublandlord to have negotiated its Master Lease prudently.
This is a critical defensive measure that can protect you as a Subtenant or Assignee from potentially hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in surprise liabilities and damages that rightly belong to others.
SUMMARY & CONCLUSION
These risks aren’t necessarily easy for Subtenants to mitigate when negotiating Sublease Agreements or Assignments of Lease. It’s a huge help to have an experienced real estate attorney on your side, along with a savvy, 100% Tenant Representative. Mitigation of some of these risks could be brought up initially in a Subtenant’s letter of intent (“LOI”) or letter of understanding (“LOU”). However, most of them are going to have to wait until you and your advisors can get your hands on the Master Lease and the proposed Sublease Agreement.
You can try to fill in the sixteen dangerous potholes yourself. But you’re likely to come out far better if you have an experienced road crew of professionals on your team.
Contact William Gary, MBA, MIM, at cell +1 303-901-1108 or wgary@MacLW.com to confidentially discuss your needs for either Sublease or Direct Space. As 100% Tenant Representatives, MacLaurin Williams Worldwide and our offices can advise you in subleasing space in nearly eighty (80) major markets, including in Boulder and Denver, Colorado, and in Round Rock and Austin, Texas.