A Blueprint for Leasing Results
November 12, 2024 • As the commercial real estate industry continuously adjusts in response to ever-changing market forces, our proprietary Black Box strategy for managing the legal leasing process remains essential.
Originally published in December 2014, it’s the blueprint for landlords, tenants, brokers, and attorneys who want to consistently achieve best-in-class, high-performance commercial leasing results.
Please enjoy this republication of Part One of our series: Opening the Black Box: A Blueprint for Leasing Results. We will be republishing Parts Two, Three, and Four next.
In the Black Box, two intersecting axes of conflict must be simultaneously managed.
The legal process of commercial leasing can, at its most basic level, be summed up by imagining two intersecting axes of conflict that the attorneys need to traverse as they move toward the finish line.
The first axis represents the conflict between precision and urgency. The need for precision can be likened to the need for adequate insurance. The hope is that you’ll never need to depend on it, but boy if you do, having it is essential.
The conflicting tension at the other end of this axis is the urgency to get the lease signed. This stems from the reality that time kills deals.
The second axis represents the conflict between the desire to get it all or go for the jugular, and the need to accommodate the other side and pursue win-win solutions.
At a certain point in every transaction, urgency will prevail over precision, and the need to accommodate will surpass the desire to get it all. But there are an infinite number of paths to that all-important point and figuring out the most direct one is often tricky.
In addition, knowing you’ve arrived at that point can be elusive and requires an intuitive sixth sense that even the most experienced attorneys don’t always have. The result is often a process that takes too long, costs too much, and jeopardizes the outcome.
In our next post, we’ll take a deep dive into the first axis of conflict: urgency vs precision.
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View all four parts of the Black Box series here on our News + Views page.