Restoration at the end of a commercial lease

Most of the negotiation in a commercial lease is about rent, term, and the work the landlord will do before the tenant moves in. The restoration clause sits near the end. It says what the premises must look like when the tenant leaves. That sentence is often copied from an old form, and it is often broader than either side intends.

A clause that requires the tenant to return the premises to their condition on the first day can reach alterations the landlord asked for, or improvements a later buyer of the building will want to keep. A clause that says almost nothing leaves the landlord with a space that cannot be relet without a fight about who pays. The useful version names the items: what stays, what goes, and who restores the ordinary wear.

Assignment and default belong in the same conversation. A tenant who has assigned the lease, or who is already in default, will read the restoration duty differently from the landlord. If the clause does not say whether an assignee takes the duty, the last month of the term becomes a correspondence about history rather than a punch list.

We read restoration, assignment, and surrender together, and we ask the client what the building should look like on the day after the lease ends. The clause should be able to answer that without a new negotiation.

This note is a general comment on commercial leases. It is not advice for a particular premises or form of lease.