Negotiating & Drafting Retail Leases
This program will focus on how tenants can exit or otherwise renegotiate office and retail leases and the practical responses of landlords. The leasing market has changed dramatically in the current economic environment. Tenants are on the offense, giving back some or all of their space and/or demanding financial concessions from their landlords. Landlords with mortgages on their properties are struggling to refinance and cope with the changed landscape. The first day of this two part program will focus on the new realities of renegotiating office leases and the problem of “shadow tenants” for landlords in refinancing their properties and with regard to property taxes. The second day will focus on major issues in renegotiating or terminating retail leases in light of widespread retail business defaults and bankruptcies.
Day 2 – July 15, 2009 – Retail Leasing:
- Impact of spreading retail bankruptcies and defaults on retail space leasing
- Make-ups and Give-backs: Lease renegotiation strategies for tenants and practical responses of landlords
- Assuming or rejecting a lease in bankruptcy
- Rules of thumb for determining whether litigation is viable
Richard R. Goldberg was a partner and is now Senior Counsel in the Philadelphia office of Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, where his practice concentrates on areas of real estate, including development, financing, leasing, and acquisition. Prior to joining Ballard Spahr in 1994, Mr. Goldberg served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel of The Rouse Company for 23 years. He is past President of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, Past Chair of the Anglo-American Real Property Institute, Past Chair of the International Council of Shopping Centers Law Conference, and a Fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys. He also is a member of the American Law Institute and has advised the Restatement of Property (Mortgages). He has written and lectured extensively on real estate issues, including articles on the economics of commercial leasing for lawyers, commercial financing including credit enhancement, and participating financing. Mr. Goldberg received his B.A. from Pennsylvania State University and his LL.B. from the University of Maryland.
