Retail

Overview

Cox Castle is a recognized leader in the retail industry with unparalleled expertise representing owners and developers in the acquisition, development, leasing, and sale of improved and unimproved land for retail projects, ranging from regional malls, power centers, and entertainment/lifestyle centers to neighborhood shopping centers and mixed-use projects.

Our retail attorneys are renowned for creative and complex project work and counsel clients throughout all phases of the development cycle, including sales and acquisitions, leasing and management, design, engineering and construction contracts, listing agreements, reciprocal easement agreements and CC&Rs, and development and management agreements.

As transactions become more complex, clients benefit from Cox Castle’s multidisciplinary team of attorneys who have expertise in joint ventures/operating agreements, finance, insurance, tax, land use, zoning, environmental matters (such as hazardous materials), bankruptcy, litigation, and construction. This collaborative approach provides clients with comprehensive legal services and tremendous unmatched value.

We pride ourselves on our commitment to becoming an integrated part of each client's team, and we closely collaborate with client, brokers, consultants and all legal team members to ensure that our efforts to meet their business objectives come to fruition.

Retail Leasing

Cox Castle boasts one of the largest concentrations of attorneys in California devoted to retail leasing. Our attorneys have successfully completed transactions with national and regional retail tenants, ranging from mom-and-pop shops to big-box retailers, within major power centers, regional malls and entertainment/lifestyle centers. We have negotiated virtually every type of retail lease, including build-to-suit, reverse build-to-suit, pad, shop and ground leases.

Our unmatched expertise in all facets of retail leasing allows us to structure terms and conditions that meet the needs of our clients and complete leases in a thorough, expeditious and cost-effective manner.

Lease Transaction Timing

In today’s fast-paced retail environment, lease negotiations must be completed in a timely manner. We make every effort to prepare an initial lease draft within mere days after receiving the letter of intent. We remain extremely proactive during the entire process until the lease is finalized. We have negotiated thousands of leases over the years, which allows us to have a keen sense for the optimal strategy.

Lease Forms

Our forms for retail leases have been an integral part of our successful practice. We typically adapt these forms for each client based on the site-specific factors of the project as well as the client’s objectives and directives. Our forms, which are updated based on changes in law and external factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, serve to protect the landlord without being overly lengthy or burdensome.

Purchase and Sale Transactions

We represent developers in the acquisition and disposition of shopping centers, developed and undeveloped land, and all other types of real property. Our intimate knowledge of the commercial leasing process allows us to successfully represent clients in purchase and sale transactions, and our professionals are experts in rent prorations, title matters and other technical issues involving the purchase and sale of commercial property.

Development / REA and CC&R Agreements

We routinely represent developers, owners, and retailers in the sale and acquisition of land within a retail center (either developed or undeveloped) and the preparation of corresponding reciprocal easement, development and other agreements common to the acquisition, development, and construction of retail projects. These agreements range in complexity from the relatively simple reciprocal easement agreement necessitated by the sale of a pad site within a community center to the exceedingly complex construction, operation, and reciprocal easement agreements used in the development of large, regional malls.