Is anyone else tired of landlords being blamed every time a business closes?
Every time I see an article about a beloved local business closing, the article places the blame squarely on the landlord for not renewing their lease.  There is no mention of how poorly the business was run or whether it even generated a profit.  They make it seem like the landlords are unilaterally deciding to kick the businesses out.  If a lease doesn't get renewed, the most likely reasons are the tenant didn't pay their rent on time or the tenant/landlord disagreed about the market rent for the space.  Landlords don't just kick tenants out of their spaces for fun.  Losing a tenant means you are losing money (downtime, leasing costs, etc.).  I once read an article in a reputable paper where the tenant blamed the landlord for kicking them out, and neglected to mention the $500k payment they accepted in exchange for giving up their extension options.  Reporters need to get their shit together and ask follow up questions when a business blames their landlord for "terminating" their lease.
[{"id": "cntwlj2", "text": "Its good business for the tenants to get a sob story and a \"opening soon at 123 main St\" free ad I guess.  Who doesn't want to cheer for the poor abused business getting shuttered by the evil landlord?  \n\nIt always cracks me up too when the landlord takes possession back for non payment etc and changes locks.  The tenant always gets some nice write up like \"Unfortunately after months of trying to resolve our tenancy our landlord without notice changed the locks to the space.  This was a shock to the ownership and our employees and we will certainly look forward to servicing our valued customers at a new location\"  when they didn't pay for months, ignored lawyer letters and phone calls etc.    Then somehow a few months later you always see a \"Oh we are just so excited to announce our new location.  We have missed our valued customers immensely since we had to choose to close down our last location.  We think this one will be a much better fit\" type article as soon as they find some dumbass that is too stupid to do any due diligence.\n\n\nAnyhow you got me rambly but yes I notice it frequently and find it comical too ;)\n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cntwnae", "text": "I partially agree with you. Yes it is frustrating when we take those hits but I will say it is positive for two reasons:\nA) failing at business is a harsh pill to swallow. Sometimes the business owner needs to place blame so they can save face. What do I care? I'm more anonymous than they are. \n\nB) the past few years has been amazing. We have seen our investments thrive and rates have gone up exponentially. We are raising the rents and there are locals who are moving out because of us. It's the rule of highest and best use. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnty9iu", "text": "I rarely, if ever, see landlords blamed for a business closing down.\nPoor reporting in your local market perhaps?", "replies": [{"id": "cntyjxx", "text": "Here in New Haven every time an old place goes out it's always \"Yale forced out the locals\" (Yale owns a large percentage of the property).\n\nSo I agree with OP.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cntykbz", "text": "am a landlord, can confirm i am indeed tired of being blamed. ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cnu5e65", "text": "This is why I got into Industrial brokerage. I was offered a position at another company that focuses solely on retail investments. I wouldn't be able to handle myself around those idiot users who have no clue how to run a business. They always wind up blaming the real estate agent or the landlord for their failures, even though all of their yelp/google reviews are horrible. It's nice dealing with no-bullshit business owners who's only concern is their bottom line. ", "replies": [{"id": "cnu8ui6", "text": "The RE commissions should get rid of fines and penalties for agents that screw stuff up and just make them work retail brokerage for a set amount of time as a punishment.  Seriously small retail leasing is like the hell of CRE.\n\nRetail tenants are just ridiculous so much of the time.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]