real estate question for romance story

Where is the story set? Some places may have laws which favor either the developer or the business owner.

I don't know about other places, but it happens all the time in Chicago. Unlike residential apartment leases, commercial leases, here anyway, are not standardized or monitored to protect businesses. Landlords put all sorts of clauses and protections in them, and for that reason, leasing a commercial space is wisest with an attorney by your side who can negotiate the finer points and make sure the business is adequately protected against that sort of thing. So the short answer is, yes, it's possible. There might be some clause written in the lease that enables the lease to become null if the property is sold before the rental term is over.

Short answer is that any strip mall grants leases to the tenants, of various lengths depending upon the management, with various clauses depending upon the management. It gets complicated very quickly. For example, I had a client who set up a laundromat at a strip mall. Instead of paying for actual water and sewer use, my client had a deal where he paid a rate set by the square foot. Worked out wonderfully for him, not so well for the other businesses in the mall.

Anyway, a bakery has some very specific requirements that need to go into the lease. For example, it needs vermin proof walls for pest control. It needs roof access for venting and chimneys. It needs special fire suppressant equipment. So the lease is very specialized, and usually for a longer period rather then a shorter period because of the customization. Compare a bakery's needs to a clothing store.

Various things can create problems and result in the strip mall wanting to go in a different direction. Definitely your character can fight what is happening. But to give you an answer in 10,000 words isn't going to begin to help you. You need to go down to the library and learn about commercial real estate. You questions at the moment are so broad that I'd need to write a book to answer them for you.

Best of luck,

Jim Clark-Dawe

Leases for commercial space in shopping centers usually have terms of less than ten year, and there usually are buyout clauses, or other ways to terminate the leases before the stated term. If you want her to get thrown out, then be sure there's a buyout clause in all of the leases.

As others have said, it depends on the city. But I'll give you a real life example that happened in our law office (real estate law):

Small mall was built in the early 60s. Tenants were all happy and productive, including our client that ran a small gift shop. The bakery at the end of the mall (true story!) had their electric ovens go out. They dutifully called the landlord, who dutifully called an electrician. The electrician arrived and... remember that 1960s part? All of the wiring in the entire mall was drastically out of Code. It was grandfathered in for so long as it worked. Make one repair such as to the breaker box in the bakery and in swooped the Code officer to inspect to get a permit. In addition to the electrical, the plumbing also didn't meet standards and, oops---the whole place also wasn't ADA (handicapped) compliant. Bathroom doorways weren't wide enough, no wheelchair ramps, etc., etc. The mall signs were also encroaching on the setback for utility lines and had to be torn down to dig up the electrical mains.

The owner gave up. He sold it to a developer to tear it down. It was simply too much cost to bear for a small mall. The gift store owner tried to hire us, but there was nothing we could do. Once the National Electric Code (or any code, for that matter) is activated, it controls.

Just flip the bakery with the gift shop if you want or have the ovens actually go out, for heaping misery on your heroine. Then you can have your hero eventually make the not-profitable-but-oh-so-romantic decision to make the repairs to save the mall instead of building the condos.

Just my opinion, but I think it would be even more romantic if he funded her relocation to Maui.

The key is what you need to have happen in the story. Many commercial leases have clauses for ending the lease, often with penalties, but you could have a lease say almost anything. Normally, a developer will want to keep viable tenants, but this could be written to avoid that. Also, in most cases, a developer cannot end a lease with one tenant to bring in another similar tenant, but again, it depends on the lease.

In your case, your options are wide open. Have him build a stand-alone bakery on the property corner for her, or move her to a high-rent district and cover the rent increase. Or sleep with her, dump her for a younger blonde tramp and kick her to the curb. It's your story to write...

Jeff

rosebud84 said:

I am currently working on a romance where the heroine owns a bake shop. My premise was going to be that her business is going really well until a real estate developer comes to her and tells her he plans on demolishing the shopping center where her bakery is.

Could that really happen? Could a real estate developer decide to just swoop in and kick all the businesses out of a strip mall that he wants to tear down?

Could my heroine fight it? What would the process be? Any ideas?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Sounds from the responses like the variation in contract law and specifics would allow for most people to "suspend their disbelief" in regard to the landlord's actions.

One of the members of my writing group owns a mall with her husband, so I'll ask her about this if you like, but as others said, laws vary. Contracts vary. So I think it's easier to just move on to question #2.

Could the heroine fight it? I think she could get a lawyer to look at the contract, and you could have the contract worded however you like to make for a good story. The developer has to have a devlopment plan that's approved by the city planning commission, and has to get city council approval for the plan. She could try to block the development plan at the city council or planning commission. She could rally a group of citizens to attempt and declare the mall a historic landmark...

I love stories about surviving transition, and I think the loss of her bakery and building herself a new and better one would make for a better story. Just my 2 cents...

rosebud84 said:

I am currently working on a romance

Could that really happen? Could a real estate developer decide to just swoop in and kick all the businesses out of a strip mall that he wants to tear down?

Could my heroine fight it? What would the process be? Any ideas?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Actually since it is unlikely she owns the building in the shopping center she would be better off gutting the bakery and installing it at another location. If the developer buys the center then all he needs to do is give them X number of days to terminate their businesses and move out.

If she owns the building absolutely that can happen, has happened I'm sure and will happen again. She can be forced to sell out to the developers. Can she fight them? Yes. With any chance of winning? Not unless she has more money and lawyers than they do.

Here is one scenario: Developer goes to the city and tells them how much more money in fees, permits and taxes they will get from his new building than the one which is standing there now. He tells them he will pay for the upgrade on the sewer, water and electrical coming into the property and so on and on. City board takes a vote and so the little bakery starts getting visited by inspectors. Each one finds a necessary upgrade if she is to remain in business. She will have X days to fix it or she is closed down and her business license revoded. Meantime articles or news stories about the woman who owns the bakery is holding down surrounding property values by not selling out. Does not matter how many customers she has if she can not open her doors.

Hope this gives you and idea where you mc stands.