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Relationships matter.

Seems obvious, but not always understood. However, this past week Scott Kadish, Alex Conn and I experienced firsthand the importance of this simple principle.

Last week we attended the ICSC U.S. Shopping Center Law Conference in San Antonio, Texas. For 4 days we attended educational sessions (we actually led the discussion in 2 of those), visited with clients and colleagues, renewed friendships and made new ones. There were about 1,350 attendees at this conference, the programming was terrific, and opportunities were abundant.

Clients and lawyers with whom we may only have an electronic connection for most of the year were suddenly and delightfully in the same physical place as us for 4 or 5 days. It was during this face-to-face time that I realized how important it is to actually know our clients and the folks who sit across the table from me the rest of the year.
Continue Reading Relationships Matter

“Street Food” has generally referred to prepared food items ready for immediate consumption sold on the street or in a public space from a food cart, food truck or similar moveable station. The connotation was cheaper fast food.

Today, “street food” is a unique, trendy selling point. There is Piada Italian Street Food that brands…

World Famous Las Vegas Nevada. Vegas Strip Entrance Sign in 80s Vintage Color Grading. United States of America.

I just returned from the National Restaurant Association Financial Officers and Tax Executives Conference in Las Vegas. I participated on a Real Estate Leasing Trends panel with Adam Schwegman, head of the eat/drink department of General Growth Properties and George Galloway of Next Realty Mid-Atlantic, with Ryan Cupersmith of Ernst & Young as our moderator. While there, I was able to soak in some knowledge myself. Here are some of the highlights of what I learned:

  1. Restaurants may be the new anchor in retail developments. A center has to provide an “experience” to motivate consumers to shop at the center as opposed to sitting home and buying over the internet. Restaurants have become a great way to create an experience and draw customers in.
  1. Restaurants are immune to internet competition. Last time I checked, you can’t buy a prepared meal over the internet that comes with a server and clean-up crew, so restaurants appear to be safe from internet competition, at least for now.

Continue Reading ‘Lease’ Vegas

I have previously commented about the similarity in service between a restaurant and law firm (see prior blog). One area where restaurants differ from other businesses is the issues presented in a retail lease.

For Lease Sign in window

A restaurant lease involves unique issues which must/should be dealt with, some more monetarily significant than others. But don’t underestimate the annoyance factor. If any of these issues are not dealt with appropriately, you can bet someone will be more than a little annoyed.

  1. Impact Fees – Because restaurants are typically big water consumers, new build locations may charge a significant tap-in fee. In some cases, there may be various impact fees. Depending on leverage, a restaurant may be able to get the landlord to pay this as part of its development costs. But even if the landlord will not pay the fee, the restaurant needs to know the exact amount of the fee so that it can correctly prepare its budget.
  1. Trash Removal – There are many different ways a landlord can charge for trash removal. Does the restaurant have its own dedicated dumpster? Does the landlord mark up the bill? Is there a choice on who to use as the hauler? I have heard of landlords going to a weight-based system where a tenant gets billed for actual disposal, but have not actually seen one in place. In any event, these details need to be determined before the lease is signed.

Continue Reading A Restaurant Lease is a Unique Dish

Scott KadishI am a commercial leasing attorney at a large firm. I have developed a decent stable of loyal clients, but not because I am the smartest attorney in the world. I like to think I’m smart, but I would be less than honest if I said that my success is due to being the smartest guy in the room. No, I believe my success is attributable to my client service. I know I have done my job when a client asks if they are my only client. So what is good service? It is not merely returning phone calls or emails. It is going above and beyond expectations. And who is the client? It should not just be the ultimate consumer, but everyone you work with and for. So it is not just the CEO of the company for whom you are providing services, it is the secretary or administrative assistant at the company, it is every other employee at that company with whom you may interact, and it is your superiors at your own company.

I waited tables to help pay for college. As a waiter, my income was 100% dependent on providing good service. And that meant not just bringing the meal, but like an attorney going above and beyond expectations. In many ways, everything I really need to know about client service I learned from being a waiter.
Continue Reading All I Really Need to Know About Client Service I Learned in a Restaurant

Lovett_43_background_RGBSo I don’t know about you, but every time I turn on NPR lately there is some discussion about President Trump’s conflict of interest because of his Washington D.C. Hotel built in the former U.S. Post Office with a ground lease from the GSA. For those of you who do not spend your days analyzing…

I’ve been thinking a lot about that word lately. Change. I get it that change is constant and to be successful you need to embrace change. That doesn’t mean we should just accept changes that are bad. No, I think it means that we need to accept that change is inevitable and be ready to…

Allen Klein said that humor cannot change a situation, but it can change your attitude about it.

I am working on a lease where I represent a restaurant tenant against a well-known, national REIT landlord. Needless to say, the landlord’s form lease is crazy-long and overly one sided, and the landlord is not very flexible.…

It seems like lease issues come in cycles: seemingly out of nowhere, a particular issue that may have never been a concern on previous leases arises suddenly only to disappear once again. Is the rise to prominence of a certain issue indicative of something larger at play? Here are the issues I seem to be…

Its-the-law-cover-az1I have been told this is a Real Estate Law Blog and that it might be time to blog about real estate law for a change. I know wine and grilled cheese donuts may be more interesting, so bear with me while I transgress.

I just attended and spoke at the International Council of Shopping…