Stuck in a Lease That Isn’t Working? You Have More Options Than You Think
CEO Series | Week 2 of 7
By Chris Rohrer & Pete Kostroski | Co-Owners
The most expensive real estate decision I see CEOs make is the one they never actually make. They sign a lease, the space stops working for the business, and instead of doing anything about it, they wait. Not because waiting is the right call, but because it feels like the only one.
Most leadership teams assume that once the lease is signed, their options are closed until the day it expires. That assumption is rarely true, and acting on it can cost real money over the years it goes unchallenged.
Signing the lease isn’t the end of the conversation
Signing a lease doesn’t end the conversation with your landlord. It starts one.
Landlords have more flexibility than most tenants assume, especially when the alternative is a vacant space or a tenant who’s quietly disengaged. A good landlord will be open to work with you on a solution rather than deal with a default, a sublease they didn’t plan for, or a difficult renewal conversation down the line.
Current market conditions only strengthen this because office tenants are not exactly falling off trees. In a lot of submarkets, tenants have more leverage right now than they’ve had in years.
The options most CEOs don’t know they have
When a space stops working because you’ve outgrown it, downsized past it, or it no longer fits how the team operates, there's a real toolkit available before the lease ends:
Subletting puts another tenant in your space and offsets your obligation, even if it doesn’t eliminate it entirely. A lease buyout lets you negotiate an exit directly with the landlord for a known cost. Restructuring can adjust your term, your rate, or your footprint within the same building.
A downsize and extension allows both you and the building owner to benefit. An expansion and extension allows both you and the building owner to benefit in most cases.
Each comes with tradeoffs like cost, timeline, landlord cooperation required. But every one of them beats the default option, which is staying in a space that isn’t serving the business for years simply because leaving feels complicated.
Timing changes everything
Companies that get the best outcomes aren’t the ones who wait until they’re desperate. They’re the ones who start the conversation when the problem is clear at any time during the lease. At a minimum they start early, typically 12 to 18 months before they think they need to.
That window gives you leverage. It gives the landlord time to plan. And it turns what could be a reactive scramble into a strategic decision with real options on the table. Wait until the lease is nearly up, or until the space is actively hurting the business, and most of that leverage is gone.
The real question
If your space isn’t working, the question isn’t whether something can be done. Something almost always can.
The real question is whether you’ve actually had the conversation with your team about what isn’t working, and with your landlord about what’s possible. Have you talked through the options? Have you approached your landlord with an actual strategy, or just a complaint?
Most leadership teams haven’t. That’s the gap worth closing.
Is your lease not working for your business anymore? Connect with Rokos Advisors today – we’re always happy to talk.
Rokos Advisors is an award-winning Minneapolis - St. Paul based commercial real estate/tenant representation firm specializing in helping businesses find the perfect office or industrial space for their company.