As an office leasing broker for Transwestern, we are working with our existing tenants to make sure they are able to get back to business. Several impacted tenants were forced to move into temporary space elsewhere in their building while we help to clean and refurnish their space. Broken windows are boarded up and carpet cleaning/replacement is underway.

Some tenants are not so “lucky”. Although none of the buildings that I lease have been badly damaged, several buildings around town have been so damaged that they have been “condemned”. In these cases, the damage was so extensive that it is not practical to repair the building and refurbish the space for the tenant. Economics dictate that many buildings will most likely be vacated and demolished. In some buildings, the restoration will be so extensive and lengthy that landlords and tenants are agreeing to settlements that release the tenant from its lease. In these cases, we are working with displaced tenants to find them new space in a different building.

A few landlords we represent are even agreeing to provide tenants with temporary space ­– rent free for three to five months — in exchange for the tenant executing a long-term lease agreement for the future. This “temp-to-perm” option affords us the time necessary to buildout to make the permanent space ready for occupancy while providing for the tenant’s immediate need to relocate and get their business open again.

Other landlords are providing tenants with a temporary abatement to vacate their space and go lease temporary space in another building while the tenant’s suite is repaired and restored. In these cases, the landlord is not releasing the tenant from their lease obligations: the tenant will be held to the full term of the lease agreement. These temporarily displaced tenants are typically looking for 3-4 month temporary lease agreements. In those cases tenants are taking space “as is” without additional buildout or tenant improvements. Telecom and network connections are being improvised with cell phones and a wifi router. So many tenants will be essentially “camping-out” in temp space through the end of the year while they hope to get back into their refurbished suites by January.

The pace has been hectic. I met with one displaced tenant in the afternoon about their need for temporary space. I had a draft agreement to them the next morning, and they signed it by lunch. We were moving them into the new space the next day — less than 48 hours from our initial meeting.

Tenant representatives and lawyers have also been busy reading some of the finer points and provisions of lease agreements and insurance policies. As a relatively new commercial broker, this is the first time that I have ever experienced this kind of situation. It has been a real education for me, and I’ll never review a lease agreement the same.