It is extremely unusual for garden variety retail tenants to be able to place a sign advertising their premises on such a pole sign. But regional and neighborhood shopping centers almost always have pole or pylon signs which have a sign for the shopping center as a whole, and which frequently contain signs advertising major tenants in the shopping center in addition.
#Commercial retail facade signage windows#
This article focuses primarily upon tenant signs placed upon some portion of the premises, e.g., the facia or facade located above the show windows in the storefront.
It is also customary for that clause to refer to a signage exhibit attached to the lease which covers the construction, design standards, approval, maintenance and removal of tenant's signage in great detail. It is customary for a landlord's shopping center form to contain a specific clause regulating the tenant's signage in the body of the lease. Most negotiations start with the landlord's form lease, since it has generally been approved by the landlord's lender and the landlord usually has the business leverage to insist that negotiations start with his form. If customers have difficulty locating a tenant in a shopping center, the tenant's sales will certainly suffer.Īll of this means that signage provisions in regional or neighborhood shopping center leases are hotly negotiated between retail landlords and tenants. Likewise, prominent and effective signage is crucial for the retail tenant. It will also add to the value of the landlord's real estate asset. If the overall signage for the retail complex is aesthetically pleasing and uniform, it will make a favorable impression upon the shopping public, and this will increase sales and percentage rent. The landlord wants tasteful and uniform signage for the center. It serves to illustrate the importance of design type issues as far as we are concerned." The attorney on the other side laughed and said, 'I can't believe that the size of a letter will blow this deal.' As it turned out, the retailer prevailed on the point, but the deal nearly fell out of bed on that design issue alone. This also had a big impact on the whole graphic appeal of the store. In one instance, we were at loggerheads over the size of a particular letter in our trade name because it determined the size of the other two letters. This was after all other business and legal issues had been resolved. One attorney for a chain store retailer relates the following: "I have seen several deals hung up on signage alone. Many shopping center lease deals have fallen through because of disputes between the landlord and the tenant over signage.