Density language is included in a commercial lease in order to regulate the number of people occupying the premises. You may not see the word density in a commercial lease agreement, but it is important to landlord to address this. Whether people are classified as employees, independent contractors, customers, invitees, vendors, customers, patients or clients, landlord may limit the number of persons occupying the premises with exceptions for events such as an open house or grand opening.
Lease density may be dealt with indirectly in the use provision of a commercial lease. A prior blog article discussed the use provision. The use provision may exclude all uses other than as permitted in the lease agreement. An example may be the premises are limited to the retail sale of men’s clothing and no other activity or operation of any kind is permitted. The foregoing language may protect a landlord from having a call center or restaurant operation in landlord’s shopping center. Landlord may want this because call centers and restaurants often consume much of the parking in the shopping center that may negatively affect other tenants and may not be a good fit for the tenant mix in the shopping center.
For the tenant, any language in the lease that addresses density or the use of the premises should either say the premises may be used for any lawful purpose, which most landlords will not accept, or describe the tenant’s use stating it is permitted. Density or use language rarely takes much language in a lease compared to the other lease provisions; however, it is one of the most important in a lease both for landlord and for tenant.
If you have a question about density, use or another provision in a commercial lease, please call us at (813) 852-6500 to arrange a free consultation with one of our Florida real estate attorneys.
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