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Negotiate lease
Hospitality
Central Auckland
The result
lower rent, plus 6% off operating expenses, negotiated off a big corporate landlord's draft lease.
A bigger landlord fit-out contribution, an exclusivity clause, limited personal liability and relocation risk removed, all inside two months.
Tart Bakery — Grey Lynn vegan bakery
Hospitality (food & beverage)
Central Auckland food court
Lease negotiation (new premises)
Take a corporate landlord's draft lease and make the deal work for a growing bakery.
The situation
Tart Bakery has turned out vegan treats and pastries from its iconic Grey Lynn shop for years. To get its goods in front of more people, the team took a spot in a new, upmarket food court in central Auckland.
The catch: the landlord was a large, sophisticated corporate, with a development team that negotiates these deals every day. Tart had a draft Agreement to Lease in hand, and director Paul Stephenson knew he needed someone on his side of the table to level it up.
What was at stake
A draft Agreement to Lease from a corporate landlord is written to suit the landlord. Rent, operating costs, fit-out contributions and the exit terms are all set in the landlord's favour.
For a hospitality business, the numbers are tight to begin with. Every extra percent of rent or outgoings comes straight off a margin that's already thin. And the clauses most tenants skip past, personal guarantees, exclusivity, relocation rights, decide how much risk the owner personally carries for years.
Sign the draft as written, and Tart would lock in the landlord's terms for the life of the lease.
What we did
Tart brought in Marcus from Proactive Property Group, whose mix of legal, property and commercial experience kept the negotiation focused on the outcome, not just the wording. The job: level the playing field with a corporate landlord.
Went through the landlord's draft Agreement to Lease line by line, flagging the terms that would cost Tart money or carry risk, and the ones worth pushing on.
Built a clear strategy around the commercial outcomes Tart needed: lower occupancy cost, a bigger fit-out contribution, and less personal risk.
Worked with the landlord's development team through the commercial terms and the Deed of Lease, framing each ask so it met the landlord's objectives too.
Resolved a run of issues under a tight deadline, landing revised terms well ahead of where the draft started.
The result
Within two months of engaging Proactive Property Group, Tart Bakery signed a revised Agreement to Lease with six clear improvements:
A smaller occupancy cost every year of the term.
Reduced outgoings on top of the rent saving.
Less of the fit-out paid from Tart's own pocket.
Owning the landlord-funded fit-out improved deductibility.
Protection from direct competitors in the food court.
Less personal exposure, and no forced move under the lease.
A draft lease from a corporate landlord reads like a fixed offer. Every one of those terms was negotiable, and moving them shifted the cost and risk of the deal back toward the tenant. Tart opened in the food court on terms it helped set, and has since engaged Proactive Property Group to advise on its next lease.
If you've got a draft lease in hand
A draft Agreement to Lease from a big landlord is a starting position. The rent, the outgoings, the fit-out contribution, the personal guarantee, all of it moves if you know which levers to pull and can make the case. The time to push is before you sign, while the landlord still wants the deal.
About the adviser
Marcus has spent 20 years acting for tenants across New Zealand and the East Coast of Australia — finding premises, negotiating leases and managing property costs across the full lease lifecycle. Having sat on both sides of the table as landlord and tenant, he negotiates commercial terms most tenants only sign once or twice in the life of their business.
More proof
A bigger office with more parking, a capped personal guarantee and real exit flexibility, on a lease that beat the firm’s existing landlord’s renewal offer.
Lower entry costs, rent-free and fit-out-free startup periods, and personal guarantees cut or removed, so every franchisee opened on solid footing.
A bigger landlord fit-out contribution, an exclusivity clause, limited personal liability and relocation risk removed, all inside two months.
Before you sign a landlord's draft, let me show you what's actually negotiable in it, on rent, outgoings, fit-out and the fine print. Tell me about the deal.
