Any success getting paid to rent out rooftop?

Question

Has anyone rented out their apartment building rooftop to a cellular company? Or any other type of company?

If so, how did it go and do you have any tips?

Joe

Liam Goble · Answer

A few years back, when the SREC market was really hot, many apartment buildings were renting their roof tops to solar companies and completing a power purchase agreement with the company.  The SREC market has been in the toilet for the past two years, but is making a come back.  Up about 5-8x from the lows, but still off the highs by as much as 80%.

Chris Martin · Answer

Last December, we started looking into leasing a small (~15K sq.ft. exposed) roof for a building we manage in my area. We will provide the roof, someone else provides the equipment. Our goal would be to offset building expenses. Specifically, the deal we want will cover all operational electrical expenses and potentially the capital expenses for reshingling prior to project start . We will start looking for an 'investor' shortly. The solar installation provider estimates the payback at about 5 years. Not sure if this is the norm everywhere, but for a system with an estimated life of 25-40 years, this 5 year payback sounds reasonable. Am I missing something? Seems like there should be more covered rooftops.

I'll keep you posted. But I'd really like to know if there is a market for investors who would capitalize a small project in return for the tax credits, net metering revenue, and future small operator revenue streams.

Colin Armstrong · Answer

I've seen quite a few companies lock up a deal to bring in some extra cash from a cellular antenna.

John Graham · Answer

@Chris Martin

Not a problem! I wasn't too sure which plan. It sounds like you are going to put in the system yourself. As opposed to going to big energy company like Duke or whoever and have them pay for your roof and you sign an agreement for the energy.

Chris Martin · Answer

It's a slow process on my side. I need to get buy-in from all member/managers and last year 2/2014) that didn't work. I am pretty confident I will make this happen in the next 12 months. From a site perspective, I've talked to two installation companies and they see no technical issues at all. It all comes down to financial viability. Some managers are used to short paybacks, and at 4-5 years, monetizing the roof top takes a little more effort to 'sell'.

I know I said this a year ago, but 'I'll keep you posted;)' I'm usually pretty good at following up.

John Graham · Answer

@Chris Martin Did anything come of this?

If so, any details of your experience would be appreciated! I have a commercial building with approximately 50,000 sq feet available. The state and county rules allow for it.

Liam Goble · Answer

Not a problem.  NYC should actually have some good roof top rental rates if I remember correctly.

Joe Fairless · Answer

@Liam Goble - thx for the info.

Any success getting paid to rent out rooftop?

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