- 5/5 Stars rating on Google
Negotiate lease
Office
Auckland
The result
of near-new fit-out and furniture, acquired for $1, plus about $31,000 a year saved on rent and outgoings.
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.
Tamaki Legal — a growing Auckland law firm
Professional services (office)
Auckland, New Zealand
Lease negotiation (new office lease)
Secure a bigger office for staff growth, with cost certainty and room to adapt.
The situation
Tamaki Legal had outgrown its office. Staff numbers were climbing, the space no longer worked, and the firm needed a bigger premises with certainty over what it would cost and enough flexibility to move again if the plan changed.
They'd always negotiated their own office leases. And they'd felt the cost of getting it wrong. This time they wanted independent tenant-side advice, someone who does this for a living, before committing the business to another multi-year deal.
What was at stake
The landlord's proposed lease read the way most do: built to protect the landlord's income, not the tenant's options.
Buried in it were the terms that quietly bite later. Limited rights to assign or sublease, so if the firm needed to move it was stuck carrying the space. Uncapped outgoings, so operating costs could climb with no ceiling. Make-good obligations that could turn into a large bill at the end of the term. And a lease length that didn't match where the business was heading.
None of that is unusual on its own. Together it's a lease that favours the landlord and narrows the tenant's choices for the length of the term.
For a firm planning to grow, the wrong terms don't just cost money. They take away the ability to adapt when the business changes.
What we did
Tamaki Legal brought in Marcus from Proactive Property Group, a tenant-side adviser who negotiates these deals regularly and has sat on both sides of the table, as landlord and tenant. The brief: make the lease fit the firm's plan, and keep the landlord relationship intact.
Worked through the landlord's proposed lease line by line, flagging the terms that would cost the firm money or freedom later: assignment, outgoings, make-good and lease term.
Focused the negotiation on flexibility, cost certainty and exit exposure, the terms with the biggest long-term impact, rather than fighting over headline rent alone.
The landlord wanted income certainty and a long commitment. Each ask was framed to meet a real tenant need without blowing up the deal, or the working relationship, under real time pressure to secure premises.
Spotted the outgoing multinational tenant's near-new partitioned fit-out and furniture already in the building, and negotiated to acquire the lot for $1.
The result
The final lease beat the renewal offer from Tamaki Legal's existing landlord, on cost and on risk, with six wins for the tenant:
Cheaper than the offer from the firm's existing landlord, every year of the term.
Reduced OPEX exposure, with clearer limits on future cost.
Room for the staff growth that started the search, plus extra carparks.
A clean exit from ongoing liability on assignment or retirement.
Better assignment and sublease rights, and reduced make-good exposure at the end of the lease.
The previous tenant's near-new partitioned office, worth about $280,000 plus GST.
The fit-out was the headline. A near-new, fully partitioned office and furniture the firm would otherwise have paid around $280,000 plus GST to build, picked up for a dollar.
But the quieter wins matter just as much. Lower rent and outgoings save about $31,000 every year of the term, and the improved flexibility means the firm can move, sublease or restructure if its plans change, without a penalty buried in the fine print.
If you're facing the same thing
An office lease is written to protect the landlord's income for years. The rent is the part you'll haggle over. The terms buried underneath, assignment, outgoings and make-good, are where the real money and flexibility sit. The time to fix them is before you sign, while the landlord still wants your signature.
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.
Don't leave $20,000 to $100,000 a year sitting on the table, or get locked into terms you can't move later. Tell me about the deal and I'll show you where the room to move is, before you sign anything.
