If the cell tower on your property has recently been sold to a tower company, you have 
been contacted about renewing your cell tower lease. Cell tower companies who have purchased portfolios of cell towers have staffed up entire departments of agents who are aggressively contacting current landlords with two offers:
- They will purchase either a lease assignment or long term easement on your land with a one-time payment. (Lease buyout)
- They will extend your lease for decades with few changes to your current lease. (Lease extension)
From the cell tower company perspective, either a cell tower lease extension or cell tower lease buyout is "good business". Securing the cell tower lease now provides the cell tower company with the most flexibility, and prevents the cell tower company from being in a poor negotiating position in the future. Any landlord who agrees to extend their cell tower lease based on the terms offered will be a "fixed cost" for decades to come. Any cell tower landlord who does not agree to extend their lease now can be approached again in the future. There is litte downside to the cell tower company under this approach.
Some of the presentations made to property owners during cell tower lease extension negotiations have been less than forthright. Many property owners have been told that if they do not agree to a lease extension, that the tower will be taken down and cell tower tenants relocated to another tower. While this may have occured in extremely rare situations, relocating a cell tower is not common. If the property owner has accurate information and industry knowledge, negotiations can be successfully achieved with limited risk.
Gunnerson Consulting believes that cell tower lease extensions should be performed on mutually beneficial terms. This can only occur if the property owner has industry knowlege and the ability to compare the scenario being offered to the true potential of the cell site. This includes many factors, several of which are market rent, subtenants, and the tower owner. Sometimes the best deal will not be achieved at this time. We present all options to our customers, and then decide together on the best action to take.
Gunnerson Consulting has had an opportunity to reveiw many cell tower lease extension and cell tower lease buyout offers. Our experience shows that many lease extension proposals add provisions to the current cell tower lease that may reduce the value by tens of thousands of dollars. We have recently seen cell tower lease extension documents that have reduced the rent payments by hundreds of thousands of dollars vs. what we believe the landlord could have received had they had the right information.
If you have been contacted to extend your cell tower lease, contact us today. We can assist you in understanding the true value of your cell tower, as well as assist you in negotiating with your cell tower tenant.