Maximizing the Tenant Improvement Allowance (TI Allowance) is crucial in lease negotiations when building or retrofitting office space. Landlords consider the premises' condition, lease term, rental rate, and the tenant's financial standing when offering an allowance amount. For existing office space, basic upgrades like carpet replacement and painting are often all a tenant can...

Tenant Representation - what is it, and why do you need it?  Why is Tenant Representation so important?  Landlords are experts in managing and leasing their properties. When you, as a tenant, sit down with a landlord to negotiate, you can be sure that they have come to the table armed with information from in-house and outside real estate professionals. The landlord's broker has significant fiduciary...

When is a thousand square feet NOT a thousand feet? When you are paying for your office space! Understanding the real cost of your office lease means comparing apples to apples. The actual size of an office can vary, depending on the building and on how the landlords measure the space. Office space is leased by the square foot, and too often, tenants go to great lengths to negotiate the best possible...

How much lead time do you need when renewing your office lease? Too often, tenants comfortably ensconced in their office space simply forget about their lease until they get a call from the landlord and receive an offer to renew a few months before their lease expiry date. This is a landlord's dream—they have a “captive tenant” who does not have enough time to move. Tenants in this situation have...

Why you need to know about the restoration clause in commercial leases. You have been a great Tenant, we are sorry to see you go...here’s your bill. Most commercial leases contain a restoration clause, under which a Tenant is obligated to return their premises to the Landlord in “base building” condition. This means that the Tenant would be required, at their expense, to remove not only their...

Having an Option To Renew clause written into your office lease is always advisable. This gives you, the tenant, the right to renew your lease at the end of your existing term. But there are both benefits and pitfalls that you have to be aware of when exercising this right. This clause can be particularly valuable in low-vacancy markets. Too often, we have seen landlords refuse to negotiate with a...

Commercial Office Lease Terms and Definitions The list below introduces you to some of the more common commercial office lease terms and definitions. Keep in mind, however, that every lease is unique, and the terms of each lease will be defined within the lease document. “As is” Condition – Premises accepted by a tenant or buyer in the condition existing at the time of the lease or sale,...

Amazon will be building a new state-of-the-art facility in Edmonton that will feature advanced robotic sorting equipment. The 2.9 million square foot facility will be in Highlands Business Park,  one of the fastest-growing industrial areas in Alberta. The building has a footprint of over 600,000 square feet but will comprise five levels giving it an effective storage area of about 2.9 million square...

Calgary may see more than a million square feet of office space fallout due to M & A activity

      Calgary-based Cenovus Energy Inc. will buy Husky Energy Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at $23.6 billion. Oil and gas mergers typically add sublease space to the market, and Cenovus confirmed that because of the “inevitable overlaps and redundancies in mergers of this type …they have identified $600 million in operating and corporate cost reductions, with a...