Glossary
Commercial lease terms, each defined in one sentence and then explained the way that actually matters in a negotiation. Every entry links to the benchmark showing how the term is distributed across 2,236 abstracted leases.
A percentage markup a landlord adds to the operating-expense pool to compensate for administering it. It is charged on top of expenses the tenant is already reimbursing.
A reduced rent, usually expressed as a percentage of minimum rent, that a tenant pays while a co-tenancy failure continues.
A percentage-rent breakpoint set by agreement below the natural breakpoint, so overage rent begins before sales have earned out the minimum rent.
A tenant's agreement to recognise a new owner — typically a foreclosing lender or its purchaser — as landlord under the existing lease.
In a gross or modified-gross lease, the first year of operating expenses that the landlord absorbs; the tenant pays only increases over that year.
A limit on how much the operating expenses passed through to a tenant may increase in a year.
The mechanism by which a landlord recovers the cost of a capital improvement from tenants over time, typically amortized over the useful life of the improvement.
A lease clause that gives a tenant remedies — reduced rent, a termination right, or both — if a named anchor tenant or a required occupancy threshold is not maintained.
Operating expenses that a landlord can influence — typically everything except taxes, insurance, and utilities — that are often subject to a separate, lower cap.
A clause that gives a tenant the right to stop operating — to go dark — without terminating the lease, often subject to rent abatement or a landlord termination right.
A CAM cap applied to each tenant's share of expenses rather than to the total pool, so tenants in the same property can have different effective limits depending on when their leases were signed.
A clause that prohibits a landlord from leasing space in the same property or a defined radius to a tenant in a competing business category.
An adjustment that restates variable operating expenses — typically those that scale with occupancy — as if the property were fully occupied, so a tenant's share is not inflated by vacancies.
A lease in which the tenant pays a single rent figure and the landlord absorbs all operating costs out of that rent.
A tenant that remains in occupancy after the lease expires without executing a new lease or extension.
A tenant's right to terminate the lease early if sales fall below a defined threshold for a defined period.
A bank instrument, held by the landlord as security, that can be drawn without a court proceeding if the tenant defaults.
A document in which a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier relinquishes the right to file a mechanics' lien against a property in exchange for payment.
In a percentage-rent lease, the sales volume at which a tenant's percentage rent would exactly equal their minimum rent.
A lender's commitment that, if it forecloses, it will honor the tenant's lease and not disturb the tenancy as long as the tenant is not in default.
Rent calculated as a percentage of the tenant's gross sales above a breakpoint.
A tenant's proportionate share of common area costs, expressed as the ratio of the tenant's leased area to the total leasable area of the property.
A landlord's right to take back leased space — at the original rent or no rent — rather than approve a sublease or assignment.
The date on which a tenant's obligation to pay rent begins, which may differ from the lease commencement date if a free-rent period has been negotiated.
A tri-party agreement between landlord, tenant, and lender covering subordination, non-disturbance, and attornment.
A tenant's agreement that its lease is junior in priority to a lender's mortgage, meaning the lender can extinguish the lease in a foreclosure.
A landlord contribution toward the cost of improving leased space to suit the tenant's use.
A lease structure in which the tenant pays base rent plus its pro-rata share of taxes, insurance, and operating expenses.
A CAM cap applied to the total expense pool before allocation, limiting how much can be charged to all tenants collectively.
A lease provision that limits what the tenant may do in the leased premises, and sometimes what the landlord may permit in the rest of the property.