Services / Office Lease Negotiation
Office lease negotiation covers the business terms of a lease: rent and increases, free rent, the improvement allowance, operating expenses, and the clauses that decide what you owe later. Tenant Advisors negotiates office leases for tenants in Chicago and the suburbs, including new leases, expansions, early renewals, and blend-and-extend restructures. We represent only tenants and don’t own or manage buildings, so every term we push for is on your side of the table. The landlord pays our fee.
Stages of a lease negotiation, earliest to latest.
Five steps, led by a co-founder or an Executive Vice President, working alongside your attorney.
Space, term, budget, and timing, plus any lease you’re in now and the dates that constrain you.
What comparable deals in your submarket actually closed at, not what buildings advertise.
At least two landlords bidding for your tenancy, compared on net effective rent and total cost.
Economics and the clauses that matter most, in writing before the lease is drafted.
We check that every LOI term lands in the lease and the work letter, with your attorney on the legal language.
The asking rate is one line. These are the terms that move total cost in the leases we negotiate.
| Term | Landlord’s opening position | What we push for |
|---|---|---|
| Rent and increases | Asking rate, 3% annual increases | Net effective rent at market; increases in line with comparable deals |
| Free rent | A month or two | 1 to 2 months per year of term |
| Improvement allowance | A set dollar figure | Enough to fund your build-out, or a turnkey delivery |
| Operating expenses | Uncapped, broad pass-throughs | Caps on controllable expenses and exclusions for capital costs |
| Assignment and sublease | Landlord consent at sole discretion, recapture right | Consent not unreasonably withheld; limits on recapture |
| Exit and restoration | No early exit; restore the space at move-out | Termination or contraction option; no restoration of standard improvements |
| Credit | Personal guaranty | Guaranty burn-down or a capped security deposit |
Ranges reflect the Chicago-area transactions we track and negotiate as of October 2026. Results vary by submarket, building, and credit.
A real engagement. The client’s name is withheld; the numbers are not.
net effective rent on a five-year direct lease, with terms usually reserved for much larger tenants.
A landlord’s broker is paid to get the landlord’s terms. Many brokers on the tenant side also represent landlords elsewhere and know the other side’s numbers they can’t share. Tenant Advisors represents only tenants, has since 2004, and doesn’t own or manage buildings. We have no landlord relationship to protect when we push on rent, concessions, or the clauses that cost you later.
Nearly everything: base rent and annual increases, free rent, the improvement allowance, operating expense caps and exclusions, term length, expansion, contraction and termination rights, assignment and sublease rights, restoration obligations, parking, signage, and security deposit or guaranty requirements.
At the letter of intent. The LOI sets the economics and the key business terms. Once the lease is drafted, landlords treat those terms as settled, and reopening them usually costs you something in return.
Usually both, for different jobs. A tenant representative negotiates the business terms and creates competition between buildings. A real estate attorney reviews the lease language and legal risk. We work alongside your attorney on every lease.
The average rent you actually pay over the term after free rent, the improvement allowance, and other concessions are accounted for. It is the fair way to compare proposals that look different on paper.
Nothing. The landlord pays the brokerage commission. Tenant Advisors represents only tenants and never landlords, so our fee comes from the landlord while our advocacy goes to you.
Tell us where you lease and when it expires. A co-founder or an Executive Vice President will call within one business day with a read on your options. What you share stays between us.
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Submissions go directly to Tom Koelzer. We respond within one business day.
Updated October 5, 2026. Written by Tom Koelzer and Dave Ven Horst, co-founders of Tenant Advisors, Inc., in Chicago office leasing since 1986 and 1985 and tenant-only since 2004. Tenant Advisors has negotiated more than 2,000 office leases from its office at 1515 E. Woodfield Road, Suite 116, Schaumburg, IL 60173.
