AboutJim Avancena Expertise I am best qualified to answer any questions that involve commercial leases, the complexities and inter-relationships of the myriad provisions that a lease may contain, and explain how they commonly effect a landlord or tenant in their day-to-day business operation. I can explain most matters that will come up during of the full lease cycle from standard industry practices regarding the lease acquistion process, concerns related to remodeling/improving the leased premises, moving-in, subletting or assigning the leased space, and a long list of other problems that may come up during the lease term. I have practical experience with most property management issues and resolving landlord and tenant disputes. Note that I am not an attorney and cannot provide legal advice.
Experience Twenty-eight years active experience in the commercial real estate industry as a licensed real estate broker in the Washington DC Metro area(DC, Northern Virginia & Maryland). I have been admitted (approved) by the Maryland and DC courts to testify as an expert witness on the subjects of Commercial Leasing and Property Management in the area of standard industry practices. I have had a business for the last 14 years advising virtually every form of business entity from large national corporations to the smallest ma & pa new businesses regarding a wide range of commercial real estate matters in addition to property management and commercial leasing.
Organizations Currently my three children keep me so busy that it is difficult to find time to participate in organizations.
Publications I publish a local commercial real estate newsletter titled: "Tenants First". My firm was the subject of a high profile Washington Post business section cover page (2.25 page)feature story on January 13, 1993; "Overcharging Overhead".
Education/Credentials BA in Political Science from Memphis University, and five years of study in the real estate development summer program at MIT. I was certified as a commercial property manager (CPM-IREM), and currently hold a brokers license licensed in Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Awards and Honors Routine, the same plaques and honors that most others in my industry have earned, none that are significant.
Past/Present Clients Past clients include: The World Bank, George Washington University, National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, US Department of Commerce, The American Benefits Council, K-Mart Development, many law firms, a national union, other major organizations, and many, many small business firms and retail operators that I am most honored to serve. I estimate more than 1,500 firms/organizations.
Question Lets say that a center has 20 spaces, and for sake of argument all are the exact same size. So each store is responsible for 5% of the CAM. But some people are paying $1 per sq ft CAM annually and some are paying $20 per square foot CAM annually.
Which means that everyone is paying a different percentage of the total actual CAM expenses, some could be covering only 1% of the expenses and some 40%, but they're the same size store.
Is this normal?
Answer J Rod-
Your math logic is OK but it excludes other potential explanations for the variations in the CAM reimbursement payments also.
It could be that the definition of which CAM expenses could include more or less expense items depending upon what each tenant negotiated in its lease agreement. For example one tenant could have told the landlord that they would not reimburse them for the cost of "administrative expenses" which is often a major cost of questionable integrity in many CAM reimbursements. There are many expenses that could have been excluded or included in each tenant's lease.
Another reason for the variation could be that some of the leases provide that the CAM expense each year is assessed by how much the specific year of CAM costs exceed a set BASE CAM amount. That is, some tenant's tell the landlord that they will only pay for the INCREASES in CAM costs above the CAM costs that occurred in the first year of their lease. If the tenants each moved into their space during different years; a different Base CAM amount would have been in effect and would further impact any uniformity in the CAM billings.
