Delivering $11M in Savings for a Major Downtown Office Tenant
The Challenge
A large downtown office occupier with more than 150,000 rentable square feet engaged Commonwealth with a complex mandate. The client wanted to downsize its footprint to achieve immediate rent savings while remaining open to a lease extension. The negotiation required simultaneously managing market alternatives, landlord dynamics, and the competing priorities of multiple board members with varying risk tolerances. Two prior firms had not delivered results that satisfied the board.
Our Solutions
Commonwealth brought its integrated Tenant Representation and Asset Management capabilities to bear on the problem. The team began by leveraging its broker and landlord network to source competitive lease proposals aligned with the client’s target footprint, compiling all market alternatives into a side-by-side financial comparison that clearly quantified savings scenarios against the existing lease. The analysis was presented directly to the client’s board with recommended counterterms and a deal structure supported by rigorous financial modeling.
The critical insight that unlocked the negotiation was identifying the landlord’s loan maturity risk, a pressure point that gave Commonwealth the leverage to drive immediate rent savings and structure highly favorable extension economics. Commonwealth led all redlining and negotiations, coordinated closely with legal counsel through execution, and structured its own fee arrangement with an upfront component and success-based incentive that aligned compensation directly with client outcomes.
The Results
Commonwealth negotiated more than $11 million in savings on the tenant’s existing lease obligations prior to expiration and secured a below-market rental rate for the extension term. The outcome delivered both the immediate relief and the long-term value the client’s board had been seeking, achieved through market expertise, financial rigor, and a genuine alignment of Commonwealth’s interests with the client’s success.
