Is a Lease Renewal Really a ‘Renewal’ Any More?

Do any companies really just exercise lease renewal options any more?  Don’t most companies negotiate to modify the terms contained in their lease renewal options?  Doesn’t that mean that lease renewals aren’t really ‘renewals’  but, instead are new deals? 

In a recent blog post I asked the question “Do Tenants Really Need Brokers When Negotiating Lease Renewals?”.  When we posted that question in a Corporate Real Estate Group on LinkedIn, a discussion began where numerous brokers, landlords, attorneys, and tenants from around the world added their thoughts.  One particular real estate professional very clearly exclaimed that there is no longer any such thing as a renewal. That made a lot of sense to me because for many years, I’ve viewed renewal options as nothing more than providing tenants with an extra element of future control over their premises.  In almost every transaction in which I’ve been involved where a tenant contemplated remaining in its premises beyond the initial expiration date, instead of exercising renewal options, those companies negotiated new terms.  So, those transactions weren’t “renewals” at all, but were actually new deals with new terms.