Perspectives
Commercial Leasing in the News
Attorney Nelson S. Martell works with our business clients across a variety of areas. One of his principal areas of focus involves representing tenants leasing commercial space. For the past several years Nelson has enjoyed working with Great Clips, Inc. and its franchisees to lease commercial space for hair care salons all over the country.
Great Clips, Inc. Senior Real Estate Manager Jim Reynolds had this to say about working with Nelson: “Nelson Martell has been a solid partner for Great Clips and our franchisees in literally dozens of leases. He is responsive and understands the dynamic nature of a retail lease; that time is of the essence, and his counsel to Great Clips and the franchisees is detailed, thoughtful and effective yet easy to follow and understand.”
“Franchisees starting a new salon are excited to get their business set up, their space leased and their first customers in the door. A commercial lease is often filled with strange legal terms that could limit the tenant’s flexibility in the future and make them responsible for costly repairs and other expenses that should be the responsibility of the landlord.” For example, tenants should not be responsible for injuries a patron might sustain while falling in a common area. Other areas he tries to protect against are transferring the lease and building out the space. Whether the tenant needs to assign and exit the lease or garner more space to expand the business the time to protect these rights is before the original lease is signed. Nelson’s goal is to make certain the lease provisions are commercially balanced and to help ensure that the tenant obtains all the advantages available to someone able to lease space in less than robust economic times. “Tenants have leverage now” Nelson said “and we want to help them take advantage of their position.” Nelson has developed a PowerPoint presentation to assist prospective tenants in understanding and negotiating leases:
PowerPoint: Commercial Leasing
Nelson attended St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin for his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, and earned his law degree at the Northern Illinois University College of Law in DeKalb, Illinois, where he received a Dean’s Scholarship throughout school. He is actively involved as a volunteer for Advocates for Education of Whitefish Bay, and he is a past volunteer attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee. He can be reached at 262-792-1818 or by sending an email to nmartell@wfjlawfirm.com.