COMMERCIAL LEASE REVIEW
Understand the lease before you sign it.
A commercial lease can shape a business for years. Gistenson Law helps Illinois business owners understand, evaluate, and negotiate lease terms before they commit.
The focus is not simply on identifying legal issues, but on understanding the practical and financial obligations the lease creates for the business.
LEASE REVIEW & NEGOTIATION
A lease is more than the rent.
A commercial lease creates a long-term set of financial and operational obligations. Base rent is only one part of the equation. Additional rent, operating expenses, maintenance and repair obligations, insurance, indemnification, guarantees, renewal rights, assignment restrictions, and default provisions can all materially affect the business.
Gistenson Law reviews leases from the tenant’s perspective, helping clients understand both the legal terms and the practical consequences of the deal they are considering.
BEFORE THE BUSINESS COMMITS
Ideally, legal review begins before the lease is signed—and, when possible, while key business terms are still being negotiated. The firm can identify provisions that warrant attention, recommend revisions, and negotiate with the landlord or landlord’s counsel when appropriate.
WHAT WE HANDLE
Lease terms that affect the business long after move-in.
Commercial lease review can involve far more than rent and term. Gistenson Law helps tenants evaluate provisions that affect cost, operations, flexibility, and risk throughout the lease relationship.
ECONOMICS & PROPERTY OBLIGATIONS
Base and additional rent, operating expenses and CAM charges, taxes, insurance requirements, maintenance and repair responsibilities, utilities, and other costs allocated under the lease.
OPERATIONS & FLEXIBILITY
Use provisions, alterations, signage, access, assignment and subletting, renewal and extension rights, relocation provisions, and other terms affecting how the business can use and adapt its space.
RISK & EXIT
Indemnification, liability allocation, casualty and condemnation provisions, defaults and remedies, guarantees, surrender obligations, and provisions affecting how the lease or the tenant’s obligations can end.
THE APPROACH
Know what matters before you negotiate.
Commercial leases are long documents, but not every provision deserves equal attention. The significance of a term depends on the business, the property, the economics of the deal, and how the tenant expects to use the space.
Gistenson Law helps clients distinguish provisions that materially affect the business from issues that may be less consequential—so negotiation can remain focused on the terms that matter.
NEGOTIATION WITH THE BUSINESS IN MIND
When changes are appropriate, the firm can help develop a practical negotiating position, communicate with the landlord or landlord’s counsel, evaluate proposed compromises, and help the client understand the business implications of the available options.
START A CONVERSATION
Have a business lease
you’d like to discuss?
Tell me a little about your business, the space, and where you are in the leasing process.