My wife and I toured some retail spaces for an idea she had about a year ago. One baby later and we had to put it off. However, one of the spaces we toured in Westchester has me puzzled. It was January we saw it, the landlord was eager to fill it. A month after we saw it, the “for rent” sign was taken down and clearly some work had begun. Fast forward to now, almost a year later and the place is still yet to open. They are clearly still doing renovations, albeit very slowly, like molasses compared to the City.
Is this lessee paying rent the entire time to the lessor? Do landlords work out some sort of interim rents while not open for the lessee, typically? I can’t imagine paying rent on a space and moving so slowly to open.
There is a fixturing period, where no rent is paid. This is when you build out the space, and you are not open for business. Then you can negotiate a free rent period as well, when you are open.
12 months is quite a long time though. I imagine something has gone sideways.