Commercial Leasing
Commercial tenancies in British Columbia are governed mainly by the lease rather than by statute. That means the terms agreed at the outset guide how issues are handled throughout the lease, including consent requests and termination.
A Lease That Works for the Whole Term
Our unparalleled expertise in commercial leasing helps you negotiate and enforce those terms for landlords and tenants across retail, office, industrial and mixed-use premises.
A lease negotiation usually starts with rent, term and square footage, and gets to everything else later. We start with everything else, because those clauses decide what your options are if the business needs to expand, transfer the space or leave early.
Leases also get tested in ways nobody plans for. A building changes hands; a lender asks for an estoppel, or the rent falls behind. We advise on what the lease allows in each of those situations, and on the steps the lease requires you to take first.
Our lawyers negotiate leases and also litigate them when a dispute arises. That second side of the work shows us which wording holds up and which wording causes problems, and we draft accordingly.
Our goal is to protect your position from the offer to lease through to the end of the term.
Commercial Leasing Services We Provide
ATAC LAW provides the full range of commercial leasing services in British Columbia, organized across four areas. Each service area is designed to keep the lease documents, the notice record and the enforcement strategy aligned through the life of the tenancy.
We prepare and negotiate offers to lease for landlords and tenants, and advise on when an offer becomes binding. Our lawyers make sure the commercial terms agreed at the offer stage carry through into the formal lease without being reopened or quietly lost.
We advise on net, gross and ground lease structures for retail, CRU, office and industrial premises. Our lawyers set out how operating costs, property taxes and maintenance obligations are shared, so each party knows what the rent actually covers.
We review commercial leases before signing and identify the terms likely to cause difficulty later. Our lawyers pay particular attention to as-is-where-is language, repair and restoration obligations, and any clause that shifts the condition of the premises onto the tenant.
We negotiate fixturing periods, landlord work, tenant improvement allowances and the conditions attached to payment. Our lawyers tie an allowance to milestones both parties can measure, and set out what follows if the premises are delivered late.
We prepare and review indemnity agreements given by a parent company, a principal or a guarantor in support of a lease. Our lawyers advise on the extent of the indemnifier's exposure, including how long that obligation survives an assignment or a renewal.
We prepare, review and negotiate the estoppel certificates and non-disturbance agreements lenders and purchasers ask for. Our lawyers confirm that what a tenant certifies is accurate, and that a tenant's occupancy is protected if the landlord's lender enforces its security.
We act on assignment and sublease requests, for landlords deciding on consent and for tenants facing a refusal or a list of conditions. Our lawyers assess what the lease allows a landlord to require and advise on the response before positions harden.
We advise on renewal options, extension rights and the steps required to exercise them properly. Our lawyers work through the notice period, the form of notice and any condition precedent, because a missed step can end a right the tenant expected to have.
We act on rent reviews, market rent determinations and the arbitration or appraisal process a lease sets out. Our lawyers prepare the valuation evidence and the submissions, and advise on the assumptions the lease directs a valuer to apply.
We act for landlords and tenants on rent arrears, notices of default, termination, re-entry and distress against goods on the premises. Our lawyers advise on which remedy fits the situation, since choosing one can foreclose another and a misstep can expose a landlord to a claim.
We bring and defend applications for relief from forfeiture after a lease has been terminated. Our lawyers assess the conduct, the delay and the gap between the breach and what the tenant stands to lose, which are the matters a court weighs before restoring a tenancy.
Meet the Commercial Leasing Lawyers Behind Our Clients' Success
Mike C. Stewart is a partner at ATAC LAW, a professional engineer, and counsel in construction disputes. He holds the P.Eng. designation in British Columbia and Ontario, and practised as…
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Dan H. Griffith is a partner at ATAC LAW and a litigator whose work is conducted in the courtroom, in civil and criminal matters alike, and carried to appeal where…
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James Un is a Senior Associate Lawyer at ATAC LAW, drawn to the disputes that turn on property, contracts, and money: who owns what, who owed whom, and what the…
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Gurpal is a construction, real estate, and commercial lawyer at ATAC LAW whose practice follows a project across its entire life, from the contracts and site agreements that set it…
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Rodolfo Assinger is a litigator at ATAC LAW whose civil practice moves fluently across construction, employment, commercial, property, estate, and administrative disputes. He is retained by individuals and business owners,…
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Roy Donghee Kim is a trial lawyer at ATAC LAW and a professional engineer whose practice concentrates where technical judgment comes under legal scrutiny. He acts for engineers and engineering…
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Megan is a associate lawyer at ATAC LAW whose practice centres on resolving disputes in the civil and commercial courts, with particular depth in construction, real estate, and corporate conflicts.…
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Siwei Xu is a civil litigator at ATAC LAW who acts in the disputes that arise when a commercial or personal relationship breaks down, between landlord and tenant, employer and…
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James Cain practises construction, commercial, real estate, and corporate law at ATAC LAW, moving between the transactions he helps structure and the disputes that can arise from them. His clients…
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Raghav is an associate lawyer at ATAC LAW. His practice focuses on civil and commercial litigation, construction disputes, commercial arbitration, regulatory proceedings, and criminal defence. Raghav has extensive advocacy experience…
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Siqi Wang is an associate lawyer at ATAC LAW whose practice is given to disputes in which the sum at issue, the asset, or the relationship between the parties admits…
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Shuni Zhang is an associate in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Practice Team at ATAC LAW. Shuni maintains a broad civil and commercial litigation practice, with particular depth in construction,…
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Frequently Asked Questions
Have another question? Our commercial leasing team is here to help.
Contact Our Team →We act on both sides, though never on the same lease. Landlords retain us to prepare lease forms, decide on consent requests and enforce against a defaulting tenant. Tenants retain us to review a lease before signing, respond to a refusal or a default notice, and protect a renewal right.
Often, yes. An offer to lease can create binding obligations well before a formal lease exists, depending on how the document is drafted and on what the parties do after accepting. We review the wording and the conduct of both sides before advising on where a deal actually stands.
Possibly, though not always. Renewal options are applied strictly, and a court asked to excuse a late or defective notice looks for diligence and circumstances outside the tenant's control rather than simple oversight. We assess the notice, the conditions in the lease and the landlord's response before advising on the prospects.
That depends on the wording of the lease. Many leases require a landlord to act reasonably in considering a transfer, while others give a landlord a broader right to refuse or to take the space back instead. We review the clause and the reasons given before advising on how to respond.
A landlord ordinarily has several, including suing for the arrears, distraining against goods on the premises, terminating the lease, or a combination of those steps. The choice matters, because pursuing one remedy can limit another and a step taken incorrectly can expose the landlord to a claim from the tenant. We advise on the sequence before any notice goes out.
Sometimes. A tenant whose lease has been terminated can apply for relief from forfeiture under the Law and Equity Act, and the court has broad discretion to restore the tenancy. Paying the arrears helps but does not decide the outcome, because the court also weighs the tenant's conduct and the overall fairness of the result. We move quickly on these applications, since delay counts against a tenant.
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