Recently, the Commercial Lease Law Insider advised landlords to avoid lease disputes by refusing to disclose the square footage of the space. The Landlord is well advised to follow a course of action that creates trust and fosters a mutually beneficial long term Landlord/Tenant relationship.
https://www.commercialleaselawinsider.com/article/dont-put-square-footage-or-dimensions-lease.
The size of the tenant’s space, expressed in square feet, is part of the equation used to calculate the tenant’s base rent and proportionate share of operating expense and taxes. An inaccurate calculation, due to a faulty measurement of the tenant’s space, will likely never be in the tenant’s favor. This means the tenant, over the course of the lease, will pay thousands of dollars it would not have otherwise paid had the square footage of the tenant’s space been disclosed, accurate and accepted by the tenant at lease inception.
The landlord tenant relationship, like any relationship, requires a certain level of trust to be successful. A landlord is best served by being open and transparent before lease execution . A tenant will be less likely to dispute additional rental amounts and initiate audits of the landlord’s books if the landlord is honest with the tenant at the outset. A failure to disclose these critical lease terms will create an environment of suspicion and mistrust, neither of which is healthy for the Landlord’s reputation or its relationship with the Tenant.