Uncertainty about the economy, about business and sales, about the real estate market, all suggest that companies should enter into short-term leases as a means of protecting their ability to remain flexible. For some companies, short-term leases are the right approach. However, when seeking to renegotiate leases as a means of extracting liquidity and mitigating risk, short-term extensions offer little value to landlords. Consequently, in those instances, short-term leases would similarly provide little value to tenants.

Like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, uncertainty and chaos breed opportunity. The greatest elements of wealth are often created in down markets. Those who carefully plan, are prepared to take action, and then execute intelligently, tend to achieve beneficial outcomes while others scramble to survive.

Given the extreme lack of demand for leased office space in most U.S. commercial real estate markets, landlords are keenly interested in attracting tenants, and retaining those they already have. With the right advanced planning, most landlords can be inspired to structure creative transactions that permit them to capture new tenant leases and restructure existing leases, thereby increasing the occupancy and cash flow in their buildings, while supporting the business and flexibility needs of those tenants.