Can You Make Commercial Tenant Change The Sign?

Question

Manage a 4 unit commercial plaza, one tenant is franchise and the sign is very professional, the other tenant has a large window decal that looks professional too, the other tenant however has tinted out the windows so dark you can't see inside and used these window markers to write their social medias on there which looks awful tbh they do have a small window decal on the door but you can barely see it from a distance. I don't find the shop to look very welcoming with the tint or smeared markers for the social medias which I feel also makes the plaza look bad. In the lease it pretty much just states they need to keep up with maintenance and follow the laws for signs/ advertising. It also states they need to get permission but because they we're a tenant before I managed that's why they didn't have to ask me. Would I be over stepping to have them only use real signs/ decals and no tint rather then markers or is it typically the tenants right to choose how they advertise their business?

Courtney Duong · Answer

In our lease it spells out not only their signs have to follow local laws for signs but they also have to get approval from me.  Last year one of the new tenant submitted their sign design and I made them change the color so that it would be uniform with the rest of the signs we have on our pylon.

Chris Seveney · Answer

@Chris Geer

We have a sign exhibit as part of each lease they must comply with. If you don’t have any signage criteria not much you can do. You can ask but they most likely don’t have to oblige but any new leases you can incorporate an exhibit in your lease for signage

Scott Mac · Answer

If they are low budget suggest to them to look into having a banner made and hanging that (if the city allows) if not an awing sign might work.

If your lease addresses signage follow that--it if doesn't I think you may have to rely on renter good will.

If the city controls signage, length of time before a proper sign must go up, that should be followed, but again (I think) your lease controls.

Signage is expensive, electricity to light it is expensive, renter may not have very deep pockets with respect to cash right now--or have the money earmarked for some other type advertising such as email blasts or etc..

Maybe they have game plan to get signage when they reach X dollars of volume or X amount of cash in the bank--signage and installation is expensive.

Good Luck!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

You may be limited in what you can do . . . legally.

Write them a letter and tell them the low quality is detracting from the quality of the property and detrimental to the other Businesses.

In the future, you should have a clause that all businesses and signage must be approved by you. For example, would you allow a strip club? Day care? Tattoo shop? Liquor store? Massage parlor vs massage therapist?

James Wise · Answer

What are they selling?

Chris G. · Answer

@Courtney Duong yes that's what I'm doing for tenants going forward, I figured since they we're an existing tenant with the signs/ writing already up they would feel they don't need to go through that process of reviewing. Or since they had them up prior to me taking over I would be over stepping asking them to change it.

Can You Make Commercial Tenant Change The Sign?

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