As a prospective tenant in a commercial office space lease, you not only want to consider your current lease term but the prospect of a future lease term as well. The best time to secure your interest in a future lease term is when you sign your new lease for the current lease term. A renewal option clause in the commercial office space lease will secure your future lease option and provide you with the opportunity to renew your lease term upon its expiration, provided you give the requisite notice. The following will provide some reasons to negotiate a renewal option clause for the lease you are about to sign for your current lease term.
Inclusion of a Renewal Option Clause Secures Your Future Tenancy
Although you may not know whether you’ll want to stay in your current lease location after your initial lease term expires, the time to put the renewal option clause into your lease is prior to signing it. It’s so important to reserve the right to renew your lease when the time comes. This is what will allow you to stay in your current location for another term, should you desire to do so. Your future tenancy is not secure if you don’t have a clause within the current lease to ensure this is so.
The Renewal Clause Is an Option Not a Requirement for the Tenant
Some office space tenants may be hesitant to have a renewal option clause in their lease as they think it requires them to renew the lease upon expiration of the current lease term but this is not the case. The renewal clause provides an option to commercial office space tenants and does not require them to renew the lease in the future. This is an extreme benefit for the commercial tenant, more so than for the landlord because so long as this clause is in the lease, the landlord has no other option but to allow the tenant to renew if they choose to do so. That is, as long as the tenant is paying their rent on time, adhering to other lease terms/requirements, etc. In other words, so long as the tenant is a “good tenant” overall.
Renewal Option Must Be in the Lease to Be Applicable
If you want to reserve the right to renew your lease down the road, the renewal option clause must be in your current lease to positively secure this option. The terms which govern your tenancy are included within the lease. Since the renewal option is a lease term, this also must be in the lease in order to effectively be used in the future. This renewal option should state the terms of the renewal lease and let you know what you are signing up for should you decide to renew your current lease.
It’s vital to have a renewal option within the lease. This lease term will allow you to renew should you choose to do so in the future and will work to benefit you, the tenant, in the long run.
