Managing commercial leases throughout acquisitions, operations, and dispositions can be complex and time-consuming. But at Property Works, we simplify every stage of the process so you can focus on maximizing profitability. From lease administration to occupancy cost auditing and tax compliance, we take on the heavy lifting, ensuring your leases drive maximum returns with minimal effort from your team.
Below is a timeline that outlines the critical steps throughout the lifecycle of your leases—and how Property Works can handle them to ensure your margins stay strong.
1. Pre-Acquisition: Securing the Right Terms
Before you close on any acquisition, it's essential to identify potential lease pitfalls that could impact profitability. Property Works provides comprehensive lease abstracting and due diligence services to help you avoid hidden costs.
- Lease Abstract Review: We create detailed lease abstracts summarizing rental terms, escalations, CAM charges, and restrictive clauses, so you know exactly what you’re walking into.
- Restrictive Clause Management: We ensure assignment, sublease, and use clauses are flagged early, giving you flexibility in future dispositions or operational changes.
- Cross-Department Collaboration: Our team works with your real estate, legal, and accounting departments to ensure all lease obligations are clearly understood and aligned with your business goals.
2. Post-Acquisition: Fast-Tracking Integration
After the acquisition closes, Property Works ensures that new leases are seamlessly integrated into your existing processes, minimizing any operational delays.
- AP Integration: We add new leases to your accounts payable system, ensuring all rent and occupancy costs are up to date and avoiding late fees or missed payments.
- Utilities & Licensing: We handle the transfer of utility contracts and licenses to the new ownership, ensuring a smooth transition with no operational hiccups.
- Facilities Coordination: Our team ensures facilities management has all the lease data they need to manage upkeep and maintenance schedules right from the start.
3. Operations: Cost Control & Compliance
During the operational phase, Property Works takes on the responsibility of keeping lease costs down while ensuring compliance with all lease terms, so you can focus on generating revenue.
- Rent Escalations Audits: We regularly review and audit escalations, ensuring you’re not overpaying on rent and that all adjustments follow the agreed terms.
- Occupancy Cost Reconciliations: Our team conducts detailed audits of CAM charges and other occupancy costs, identifying discrepancies and helping you recoup any overcharges.
- Maintenance & Tenant Improvements: We manage tenant improvement allowances to ensure you’re leveraging all available funds for remodels and upgrades—minimizing out-of-pocket expenses.
4. Tax Compliance: Staying Ahead of Deadlines
Property Works takes proactive measures to ensure all property taxes are paid on time, avoiding costly penalties and reducing your overall tax burden.
- Tax Bill Monitoring: We track property tax due dates, even if physical bills aren’t received, and make sure payments are made before late fees accrue.
- Tax Assessment Audits: We compare your tax assessments to similar properties and challenge inflated valuations, saving you money on excessive tax payments.
5. Disposition: Preparing for Exit or Sale
When it’s time to exit a lease or sell part of the business, Property Works ensures that all lease obligations are in order, facilitating a smooth and profitable transition.
- Assignment & Sublease Management: We review and manage assignment and sublease clauses, ensuring that your exit strategy is in compliance with the lease terms.
- Security Deposit Reconciliation: We maintain an accurate record of security deposits across all locations, ensuring that no money is left on the table during the sale or lease termination.
- Organized Lease Data: Since Property Works maintains meticulous lease records from the start, all your lease data is already organized and up-to-date. This eliminates the need for expensive attorneys to step in and organize lease data for you before a sale, saving you both time and significant legal fees.
By keeping everything streamlined and accessible, we ensure your business is positioned for a smooth and efficient exit process, maximizing value and minimizing hassle.
Why Property Works?
With over 25 years of experience, Property Works understands the complexities of commercial lease management, especially in the private equity space. We take care of every step of the lease lifecycle, from acquisition to disposition, so you can focus on maximizing profits and driving growth.
By partnering with Property Works, private equity managers can offload the administrative and operational burden of managing leases, ensuring every detail is handled accurately and efficiently, saving time and money in the process.
