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Private commercial real estate continues to produce steady returns, in line with long-term expectations, according to the recently released UBS US Real Estate Summary. The authors report that CRE investors expect returns to slow in line with historical performance. With rent growth positive and the economy growing, expectations are for continued growth through 2019, though at a less robust rate than last year.

It’s critical to take action—by enforcing the lease for a tenant experiencing financial difficulty—as soon as that tenant sends a partial rent payment or misses a rent payment altogether. Regardless of how important the tenant is to your building or center, worry about yourself first. Quickly deal with the issue to prevent the tenant from inadvertently modifying the terms of the lease.

If you defaulted on the mortgage loan for your office building or center because a major tenant didn’t pay its rent, leaving you short of money to make a loan payment, it seems only fair that the delinquent tenant should have to reimburse you for the loan-related damages you had to pay to the lender. But if your lease doesn’t allow you to recover loan-related damages from a delinquent tenant, you’ll miss the chance for reimbursement.

Identify all of the documents comprising the lease in any estoppel certificate you give to a tenant to sign. Alternatively, you can attach a copy of the lease and all of those documents to the estoppel certificate as an exhibit. Then there shouldn't be any gaps when the tenant certifies that its entire lease is in full force and effect and that all lease amendments and modifications are true and correct.

You can’t use any of the tenant’s trade names, trademarks, logos, and designs in your marketing materials unless you first get the tenant’s consent. Why? Because they are its “intellectual property.” And if the tenant decides to withhold its consent, or you never ask, but you print them in your marketing materials anyway, the tenant could sue you for trademark infringement.

If you grant a license to kiosks and carts to conduct business at your center, make sure that you audit the books and records of a set percentage of those kiosks and carts each year to verify their gross sales. It’s not uncommon for kiosks and carts to submit gross sales statements that underreport their gross sales. Assuming your kiosk or cart license agreement gives you the right to audit, auditing the kiosks or carts helps deter them from underreporting their gross sales—and underpaying their percentage rent.

Some office building or mall owners put out “wet floor” signs during rainy or snowy weather to warn customers about slippery conditions that could quickly develop on the floors of the property. In just a few minutes, water can collect, creating a hazard. It’s important to be cognizant of potential areas for liability, but make sure to consult your attorney about what precautions you should take as far as these types of warnings are concerned.

Making a profit from tenants at your shopping center or mall depends on many factors—one of which is the key percentage rent arrangement. Percentage rent allows you to collect not only base rent, but also a percentage of the tenant’s gross sales done at the space it leases from you. But percentage rent doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It can be diminished by variables like the tenant’s success—not just with you, but wherever else it is doing business, if that is nearby.

Many commercial properties have more than one level, which will mean that there is at least one set of stairs. You may be wondering if you could include the stairs leading to, say, the dance studio in the square footage, and whether it’s customary, or even legal, to include stairs leading to a second-story office or retail property when calculating the square feet to be leased. What if the stairs are the only access to the leased area?

If you own a mixed-use building that has retail stores on the ground floor and residential units on the floors above, with the ground floor specifically zoned for retail use, be aware of additional lease considerations. Namely, you’ll need to factor in the potential for zoning changes in your leases.