So, what happens if you uncover bad news and find out that your company’s landlord isn’t just managing cash flow but, may truly be in danger of losing its building…..the building YOUR COMPANY OCCUPIES?!
Here are 9 Defensive Strategies When Your Landlord May Lose The Building Your Company Leases, that might stave off catastrophe:
1. Buy the building from the landlord (This one may be challenging if your company is a small tenant in a large building)
2. Buy the building’s mortgage from the lender
3. Sublease your space (This strategy may be least effective if the building is experiencing financial hardship, especially in markets with little demand for space)
4. Restructure your lease (Can your company create enough of a financial benefit for itself and its landlord to save the building? What would be the quid pro quo?)
5. Seek self-help (Which services, on which the landlord may default, can your company perform or have performed by other service providers, without placing itself into default of its lease?)
6. Check with your real estate professional (What’s the word on the street?)
7. Check with your attorney (What legal remedies might be available to your company?)
8. If your lease is scheduled to expire, move now….move early (The double rent that your company might pay for a short time period, if it moves to other quarters before its lease expires, may be cheap in comparison to the expenses, lost productivity, and other challenges it might experience if the landlord loses its building)
9. Have a conversation with your landlord to determine what you might work out together. In tumultuous economic times such as these, prudence demands that executives be proactive in understanding the stability and risk associated with the real estate their companies occupy. Advanced planning and a little investigative work, coupled with creative solutions can go a long way to protecting your company’s flank.
About CFO Studio
CFO Studio spotlights New Jersey based senior finance executives, providing them with the opportunity to share their knowledge and communicate their perspectives on current economic, financial, operational, and business issues. By invitation only, CFO Studio promotes select finance executives, their ideas, experience, and insights, in a professional, tasteful, and low-key interview setting. Topics include current and future trends in accounting, banking, business, corporate strategy, employment, finance, IT, operations, real estate, risk management, the economy, and more. Watch interviews with noted area finance executives and learn how your peers are creating sustainable value for their companies! Join the conversation or just watch, listen, and succeed! We welcome your ideas for future interviews. If you would like to appear on CFO Studio, please email or call our CEO, Andrew Zezas, at 732 868 0000 x111. Visit www.CFOstudio.com.
About Real Estate Strategies Corporation
Real Estate Strategies Corporation is a respected corporate advisory and transaction services firm that provides thought-leadership, decision-making, planning, project management, and transaction execution services to finance and senior executives at management team-led public, private, and portfolio companies, and not-for-profit organizations. Under the leadership of its award-winning CEO, Andrew Zezas, RealStrat’s clients engage the firm when acquiring, disposing of, renegotiating, or enhancing occupied leased or owned real estate in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and throughout North America. By creating and executing Business DRIVEN Real Estate Solutions and identifying hidden Opportunities, RealStrat drives greater operational and financial performance in support of its clients’ stakeholder objectives, M&A requirements, and exit strategies.
In the current economic environment, RealStrat’s efforts are focused on uncovering, capturing, and re-purposing hidden liquidity and minimizing risk in its clients’ leased and owned real estate. The firm provides counsel as to competitive advantage strategies in preparation for the eventual economic recovery. Visit www.RealStrat.com. Follow CFO Studio at http://www.Twitter.com/CFOstudio.
www.CFOstudio.com
www.RealStrat.com
www.TheCFOsGuide.com
Copyright Real Estate Strategies Corporation 2011. All Rights Reserved.
###
