Our lease is expiring and we are ready to move to a new location. Our landlord seems to believe we must leave everything-"anything not on wheels" (including sinks, cabinetry, etc). We built out the location (our 1st mistake), and feel if we paid for it, it's ours. What has your experiences been?

hi there Dell'Amore,

I'm sorry to hear you are leaving a location you built out!  We're in a similar dilemma - we built out every inch of our space - drywall, ductwork, the works!  Unfortunately, it has empowered our landlord to totally ignore our lease.

Here's some advice I received recently from a real estate lawyer regarding fixtures - if you can take it all out in one night, it's going to be tough for the Landlord to claim that it was permanently attached. 

If I were you, I would take it all - it is yours!   Make sure you have your proof of purchase somewhere, and move on to your new location. 

Consult with your lawyer immediately - especially if you have a security deposit.  Also, if you need to do a final walkthrough with your Landlord, and you think he's going to be upset, maybe you'd prefer your lawyer be there instead of you.

Good luck at your new location !! 

Laina Shockley
Ethos Vegan Kitchen

You should return your space to "vanilla box." Anything that isn't permanently attached to walls would mean just about anything except for the drywall and plumbing fixtures.

I wouldn't destroy the space but I would take what is mine and I wouldn't do any damage. If he pitches a fit give your lawyers card and tell him to have his lawyer contact yours. I would definitely take pictures of the state you left it in, just in case.

We are in the same spot as Laina. When we moved into our space it was a dirt floor. We did have LL contribution to the space but we did take time to spell out exactly what that contribution if and when we decided to move on.

 

  

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My experiences with leases is that there are two types of improvements, lease hold and furninshing and fixtures.  If it's a built in bar, it stays, a sink can be taken with you, exhaust hoods are usually deemed lease hold improvements and the landlord won't let you take them, a walkin falls in between, freezers, fryers, broilers, holding cabinets; all are fixtures and go with you.  I hope this helps.  Good luck.

Thanks everyone!