There are a number of common sense provisions that retail landlords should have in their leases.  And interestingly they protect not only the landlord, but the sanctity of the center. 

One, and a very important one, is a provision which disallows going-out-of-business and close-out sales.  Without going into great detail, it should be obvious how these can infect shoppers' feelings about the mall, in general.

That's terribly important to the remaining tenants.

Frequently, I write about Dallas' most famous retail mall, NorthPark.  The genius of Raymond Nasher and his wife Patsy, NorthPark opened in 1964.  The look and feel were so perfect then that there has never been any serious reason to alter or modernize any of its physical design.

But I notice that in the past several months, NorthPark has had several stores announce that they were closing up shop, and then liquidating their merchandise on site.  The most recent was The Sharper Image.

And then there is an accompanying "good judgment."   Every lease should provide for an upfront deposit in form and amount that would allow the landlord to totally repair and reface those parts of the building's exterior that carried the tenant's signage.

Once the tenant is gone, a good memory should be the only factor that reminds the public what was once there.  One store of about 25,000 square feet that's near Patty and me has had two failed businesses in it during the past five years.  The most recent was Fred's.  Before it was a national drug chain.  Both signs removed, you can easily see the imprint of both on the facade of the space.

How long will the strip center management allow that look to announce those failures?

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has many resources.  One of them addresses leases.  Landlords and leasing-management companies should be as rabid about membership and participation as vendors and mechants are.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

OUR 43RD YEAR SERVING TEXAS

1 800-314-7110