New Landlords Trying to kick us out

[jay8829]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

I run a coworking office, and we found out in December that our building had been sold to a daycare. Our lease runs out in November but the new buyers want us to leave by May 1st. We told them that a move this early (we had only started the lease and the business 8 months ago) would be really damaging to our business, and that it could potentially do up to $30,000 in damage to us, although we also specifically said that we were not demanding for them to pay us $30,000 to move out. Even with that qualification, they still took that as us making a crazy demand and are now balking at the idea of making us a buyout offer. The problem is that we really can't afford a move right now if they don't give us something, but we also can't stay in business next to a daycare either. We have some additional leverage in that our space is about half of the square footage in the building, and the whole building shares a conference room which is built in to our lease, which is another large chunk of space. I'm guessing they think that we're bluffing and are going to try drive us out of the building, but my question is, if they start doing a lot of construction and bring a bunch of screaming kids on the property, could we make the argument that they're preventing our quiet enjoyment of the property? There's also no real sound insulation whatsoever, the whole building is essentially one giant room with a few dividing walls.

 

[FarmerJ]

Your commercial lease has the protections that it offers SO if they want you to leave early and don't buy you out then there is not much they can do about it and you can make it crystal clear you wont plan on leaving before your lease is up. ( do store a copy of your lease somewhere else other than in that office and then speak to a attorney now about how to address a breach like if they take away your use of that conference room. ( LOL its almost too bad your business wasn't one that no one would dare open a day care near )

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas

I run a coworking office, and we found out in December that our building had been sold to a daycare. Our lease runs out in November but the new buyers want us to leave by May 1st. We told them that a move this early (we had only started the lease and the business 8 months ago) would be really damaging to our business, and that it could potentially do up to $30,000 in damage to us, although we also specifically said that we were not demanding for them to pay us $30,000 to move out. Even with that qualification, they still took that as us making a crazy demand and are now balking at the idea of making us a buyout offer. The problem is that we really can't afford a move right now if they don't give us something, but we also can't stay in business next to a daycare either. We have some additional leverage in that our space is about half of the square footage in the building, and the whole building shares a conference room which is built in to our lease, which is another large chunk of space. I'm guessing they think that we're bluffing and are going to try drive us out of the building, but my question is, if they start doing a lot of construction and bring a bunch of screaming kids on the property, could we make the argument that they're preventing our quiet enjoyment of the property? There's also no real sound insulation whatsoever, the whole building is essentially one giant room with a few dividing walls.

What you really need to do is take your lease and go get a consult with a real estate attorney. They certainly cannot force you out before the lease ends, but whatever else can happen depends on what the lease says, and we cannot read it.

However, do plan to be out by the end of your lease, because obviously they want the entire space for the daycare. I also suspect that its unlikely that they actually have any money to "buy you out"...which is why they freaked when you said it would cost you 30k to move. They may even opt to wait out the extra six months until your lease ends to even start construction, because that might be more economically feasible. It all depends on a whole host of factors that none of us know.

However, do get a consult with a local real estate attorney to find out exactly where you stand.

 

[STEPHAN]

How much was the property?

(I was once bought out of a 3 year contract to get a 10 year contract for a whole building. We got a lot of money.)