A lease is signed once and lived with for years. Elite Retail Leasing negotiates retail leases on behalf of tenants — new deals, renewals and relocations — so the terms you sign reflect what your business actually needs.
Retail lease negotiations are rarely a fair fight. Landlords negotiate leases every week; most retailers do it once every five years. The leasing executive across the table knows exactly which terms they can move on and which they will hold, and they are not obliged to tell you.
We have spent over a decade in that market, including working with some of the country’s most prominent retail landlords on complex and challenging assets. That background is now used exclusively on the tenant side: we know where the flexibility sits, what comparable deals have settled at, and when a “final offer” is genuinely final.
Whether it is your first store or your fiftieth, we run the negotiation end to end — from the initial offer through to the signed lease.
Headline rent is only part of the picture. We negotiate the review mechanism as well — fixed percentage, CPI or market review — because a small difference compounds significantly across a five or seven year term.
Rent-free periods, fitout contributions and capital contributions are often where the real value is won. We benchmark what is being offered elsewhere in comparable centres and negotiate accordingly.
Recoverable outgoings, management fees and marketing levies can move total occupancy cost materially. We review what is being passed through and challenge what should not be.
A narrow permitted use limits how your business can evolve, and a missing exclusivity clause can allow a direct competitor into the same centre. Both are negotiable, and both are easy to overlook.
Further terms, assignment rights, relocation and demolition clauses all affect what your lease is worth if you ever want to sell the business or exit early. We negotiate them at the start, not when you need them.
Make good is a real, often significant, end-of-lease cost. We negotiate the scope up front and get it documented clearly rather than left to interpretation years later.
Retail leases in Victoria are governed by the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic), which sets out landlord obligations including disclosure statement requirements and minimum term provisions. Other states and territories have their own retail tenancy legislation. We work within that framework and alongside your solicitor, who provides the legal advice on the documents themselves.
Before you respond to the first offer, and ideally 12 to 18 months before a lease expiry. Once you have countered on rent, or once an expiry is close enough that you have no realistic alternative, most of your leverage is already gone.
No. We are leasing consultants, not lawyers. We negotiate the commercial terms — rent, incentives, outgoings, options, make good — and work alongside your solicitor, who reviews and advises on the lease documentation.
Yes. Renewals and option exercises are a significant part of what we do. Landlords often assume a sitting tenant will accept the standing offer, which is exactly why renewals are frequently the easiest place to recover value.
Tell us about your site, your lease or your growth plans. We will tell you where you stand — directly, and without obligation.
© Elite Retail Leasing — Retail Leasing Consultants, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia