Commercial Real Estate Leasing

Holland & Knight's Commercial Leasing Team has enormous depth and breadth of experience, and, as a result, develops sophisticated and practical solutions to client issues. We handle large portfolios containing both complex and simple leases with equal efficiency, as well as all product types, including office, industrial, flex, retail and mixed-use. We represent both landlords and tenants, and have been involved in leasing millions of square feet of space annually throughout the U.S., ranging from small retail and office tenants to large space consolidations to complex tenant equity participations.

Our attorneys bring a pragmatic business perspective to the lease negotiation process. Working together with our Real Estate Finance Team enables us to fully understand the lender's role in the lease approval process and the competing interests of landlords, tenants and lenders in leasing transactions. We pride ourselves on our ability to negotiate tri-party deals between these interested parties.

Our leasing practice is multifaceted, with an emphasis in the following areas:

Landlord Representation

We provide full-service leasing representation to various types of owners and agents – broker/managers, private owners, banks, insurance companies, pension funds/pension fund advisors, REITs, private investment funds and overseas investors – for entire office, multiuse, and retail complexes. In addition to the negotiation of individual leases, we help coordinate the leasing objectives with your overall design, development, and management plans for the building, including the negotiation of commission, listing agreements and management agreements, work letters and development agreements, construction and architect contracts and other agreements with lenders, ground lessors, and other landlords concerning collateral leasing concerns.

Tenant Representation

We represent law firms, accounting firms, trade associations, retailers, restaurants, industrial and warehouse users, national banks and financial institutions, private and public corporations, and other businesses in leases of all sizes for a wide range of uses. We have represented tenants in single transactions as well as portfolio-wide representation. Our leasing lawyers are considered an integral part of our clients' space management team. We take pride in our knowledge of the economic environment and the markets in which our clients' transactions take place in order to maximize lease protections for them.

Professional Services Organizations

Holland & Knight has earned the reputation as the "lawyer's lawyer" in leasing, having successfully negotiated leases on behalf of several of the most prestigious law firms, as well as accounting, consulting and other professional services firms. The professional firm tenant is a unique client: It has special space needs, such as expansion requirements and other space planning flexibility, but also has partner recourse concerns. We have developed acuity in handling professional firm leases on behalf of both landlords and tenants.

Equity Participation Leases

In conjunction with our Tax Team, our attorneys assist both landlords and major tenants in structuring tenant equity participation. We understand the risks to tenants in such a structure, and are careful to ensure that clients understand the risks and that the transaction is structured to minimize the risks.

Asset Management for Lenders

As an adjunct to the firm's restructuring and workout practice, we work with banks, insurance companies and asset managers to analyze existing leases, lease space, and develop an overall leasing management plan for both real estate-owned and portfolio-held buildings.

Retail Leasing

We have extensive experience with respect to all facets of retail leasing, from both landlord and tenant perspectives, with particular emphasis on urban retail, all types of shopping centers, enclosed malls, entertainment projects, ground leasing, and "big box" and in-line national tenants.

Industrial Leasing

Our Commercial Leasing Team has significant experience advising landlords and tenants in leasing industrial properties across the United States. We are familiar with the substantive issues that are important for both landlords and tenants in this area, which helps us identify important issues to our clients and minimize their risks as they move forward with these types of lease transactions.

Build-to-Suit Transactions

Our attorneys have substantial experience in all areas of land use, development, construction, finance and leasing issues relating to build-to-suit and design-build projects. We have worked with developers and tenants in connection with the structuring, negotiating and documenting build-to-suit transactions involving office, retail and industrial properties. Our clients include regional, national and international developers and owners with real estate interests throughout the U.S. Lawyers have also participated in numerous build-to-suit and design-build projects where the tenant/user was the U.S. government through the General Services Administration (GSA) or another federal agency.

Government Leasing

Leasing to the GSA and other federal, state and local governmental agencies involves unique structural, business and legal issues and requires special knowledge of procurement and other legal requirements. Holland & Knight has considerable experience in GSA leasing and the leasing to various other governmental agencies. Government holdover and condemnation issues are risk inherent in almost every government lease. We have successfully litigated some of the largest and most complex GSA holdover and condemnation cases in the U.S.