Leasing
Retail, commercial and licensed-premises leasing, for landlords and tenants.
Leasing matters from drafting through to disputes. We act for both lessors and lessees across retail, commercial and licensed venue contexts, and we frequently sit on the property side of hospitality transactions where the lease is the deal.
Overview
How we work on these matters.
Begin a matter
Whether the lease is the asset (a hotel landlord taking on a long-term tenant) or the foundation of a new business (a restaurant taking premises with fit-out contributions), the fundamentals are the same: clear rights, allocated risk, predictable rent reviews and a clean exit.
We draft and review with that lens. The clauses that survive a tenant default or a landlord sale are the ones that earned their place when the lease was negotiated. That's when our clients want us in the room.
Documents are tightly drafted, negotiations are purposeful, and timetables are managed so that there are no surprises.
Services
What we cover.
- 01Retail and commercial lease drafting and review
- 02Lessor and lessee representation
- 03Lease assignments and surrenders
- 04Licensed-premises leasing (hotels, restaurants, clubs)
- 05Make-good and end-of-term disputes
- 06Rent review and option exercise advice
- 07Bank guarantee and security deposit issues
- 08Lease negotiation and dispute resolution
The leasing process
From heads of agreement to keys in hand.
Every lease moves through the same stages. What changes is how cleanly each one runs. We tell you, in advance, what each stage needs and where the risk sits.
Send the lease for review- 01
Heads of agreement review
Before the lease is drafted, the commercial terms are usually agreed in a heads of agreement or agent's letter. We review it first. The cheapest time to fix a term is before it's in the lease.
- 02
Drafting or review
We draft the lease (landlord-side) or review the landlord's draft (tenant-side), marking up the clauses that allocate risk: rent review mechanism, outgoings, permitted use, assignment, make-good, and default.
- 03
Negotiation of key terms
A focused negotiation on the clauses that move the deal, not a line-by-line war over boilerplate. We tell you which points are worth pressing and which to concede.
- 04
Disclosure & guarantees
Retail leases trigger disclosure-statement obligations under the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW). We prepare or check the disclosure statement, and document bank guarantees, security deposits and any personal guarantees.
- 05
Execution & registration
The lease is executed, the security lodged, and, for leases over three years, registered on title so the tenant's interest is protected against a sale of the freehold.
- 06
Term management
We diarise the dates that matter (rent reviews, option-exercise windows, and expiry) so a missed deadline never costs you the premises or a renewal. We stay available for the questions that arise mid-term.
Representative matters
Leases, both sides of the table.
We act for landlords and tenants in roughly equal measure, which means we know how the other side will read every clause.
- 01Retail leases in Sydney shopping centres and strip locations
- 02Hotel and licensed-premises operating leases
- 03Office, warehouse and industrial commercial leases
- 04Lease assignments on hospitality and retail business sales
- 05Make-good and end-of-term negotiations, both sides
- 06Rent review and option-exercise advice
- 07Bank guarantee and security deposit disputes
- 08Surrenders, variations and lease restructures
Begin a leasing matter
Ready to negotiate the lease?
Drafting, review or dispute resolution: LAS Lawyers acts on retail, commercial and licensed-premises leasing for landlords and tenants alike.
Or call (02) 9280 4599