Create Your Commercial Lease Letter of Intent
Generate a professional Letter of Intent for leasing commercial real estate - outline your proposed rent, lease term, tenant improvements, and key conditions before committing to a formal lease agreement. Includes legally binding confidentiality and exclusivity clauses. Ready to deliver in minutes.
Trusted by business owners and commercial tenants nationwide
What's Included in This LOI
This form generates a comprehensive Letter of Intent covering the proposed premises, rent structure, lease term, tenant improvements, operational terms, and legally binding confidentiality and exclusivity clauses - everything needed to formalize your interest in a commercial space before hiring attorneys to draft the formal lease.
Premises & Property Details
Identify the property by address, suite or unit, property type, and proposed square footage. Define the permitted use - exactly what business operations will take place in the space. The LOI makes your intended use clear from the start.
Rent & Financial Terms
Propose the base monthly rent, rent structure (gross, modified gross, NNN, or percentage), annual escalation method, security deposit amount, and estimated CAM charges. These financial terms form the core of your lease negotiation.
Tenant Improvements & Operations
Request a tenant improvement allowance, define buildout responsibility, negotiate signage rights, parking arrangements, and exclusive use protections. These operational terms protect your business investment.
Binding Provisions
The confidentiality clause and exclusivity or no-shop clause are explicitly marked as legally binding, even though the rest of the LOI is non-binding. The exclusivity clause takes the space off the market while you negotiate the formal lease.
LOI Sets the Negotiating Framework
While most LOI terms are non-binding, they establish the starting point for lease negotiations. Landlords rarely agree to terms significantly more favorable to the tenant than what was proposed in the LOI. Get your best terms on paper from the start.
Exclusivity Is Your Leverage
The binding exclusivity clause is the tenant's most powerful tool. Once signed, the landlord cannot show the space to other prospective tenants for 30-90 days. This gives you uninterrupted time to negotiate the lease, plan your buildout, and secure financing.
Understanding Lease Structures
Commercial leases come in several structures that determine how operating costs are split between landlord and tenant. The structure you choose significantly affects your total occupancy cost.
Gross Lease
You pay one flat rent amount and the landlord covers property taxes, insurance, and maintenance. Common for office space. Higher base rent, but predictable monthly costs with no surprise expenses.
Modified Gross Lease
A middle ground - base rent includes some operating expenses, but the tenant pays for others. Common for office and mixed-use properties.
NNN (Triple Net) Lease
The tenant pays base rent plus their proportionate share of property taxes, insurance, and common area maintenance. Lower base rent but variable total cost. Standard for retail, warehouse, and industrial spaces.
Percentage Lease
Base rent plus a percentage of the tenant's gross sales above a breakpoint. Common for retail tenants in shopping centers and malls. Aligns the landlord's income with the tenant's business success.
Protecting Your Business
A well-drafted commercial lease LOI does more than propose rent - it protects your business investment with exclusivity, confidentiality, and operational guarantees.
Exclusive Use Clause
Prevents the landlord from leasing to businesses that directly compete with yours in the same property. Critical for retail and restaurant tenants in multi-tenant shopping centers.
Binding Exclusivity
Once the LOI is signed, the landlord cannot show the space or negotiate with other prospective tenants for the exclusivity period. This protects your investment in architectural plans, financing, and legal fees.
Confidentiality Protection
The binding confidentiality clause prevents either party from disclosing lease terms, financial information, or negotiation details. This protects the tenant's business plans and prevents the landlord from using your terms to negotiate with competitors.
Renewal Option
Secures your right to renew the lease at the end of the initial term. Without a renewal option, the landlord can refuse to renew or demand dramatically higher rent after you have invested in buildout and building a customer base at that location.
Commercial Lease Letter of Intent
- Retail, office, warehouse & more
- Binding confidentiality & exclusivity clauses
- All 50 states supported
- TI allowance & buildout terms
- Exclusive use & signage clauses
- Instant PDF download
Did you know?
Did you know?
According to commercial real estate brokers, tenants who submit a professional Letter of Intent are far more likely to negotiate favorable lease terms than those who negotiate informally. The LOI demonstrates that you are a serious, organized tenant - which matters to landlords who want reliable, long-term occupants. A well-structured LOI also saves both parties legal fees by resolving major terms before attorneys begin drafting the lease agreement. Perhaps most importantly, the binding exclusivity clause takes the space off the market during negotiations, eliminating the risk of losing the space to a competing tenant while you finalize your lease terms, buildout plans, and financing.
Featured — Spotlight
Commercial lease law tailored to your state.
Commercial lease law varies significantly by state. California requires landlords to return security deposits within 30 days with an itemized deduction statement and imposes a duty to mitigate damages upon tenant default. New York requires deposits to be held in trust and provides commercial tenant harassment protections in New York City. Florida's nonresidential tenancy statute gives landlords a statutory lien on tenant property and distress rights for unpaid rent. The governing law provision in this LOI references the state where the property is located, ensuring that binding provisions are interpreted under the correct jurisdiction's commercial real estate law.
What people are saying
Real tenants, real spaces
Join business owners who secured their commercial leases with confidence
"I was opening my first retail store and had no idea how to approach the landlord professionally. This LOI covered everything - rent, TI allowance, exclusive use clause, signage rights. The landlord's broker said it was one of the more thorough LOIs they had received from a small tenant. We signed the lease three weeks later."
Amanda S.
San Diego, CA
"We used this for a 5,000 sq ft warehouse lease. The NNN structure explanation was really helpful, and the exclusivity clause kept the space off the market while our attorney reviewed the lease."
Kevin & Lisa M.
Nashville, TN
"Leasing medical office space has unique requirements. This LOI gave us a professional document to present to the management company and established all the key terms before we spent heavily on legal fees for the formal lease."
Dr. Patel
Boston, MA
Support
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about our commercial lease letter of intent
A commercial lease Letter of Intent is a preliminary document that outlines the proposed terms for leasing commercial real estate space. It expresses the tenant's serious interest and establishes a negotiating framework before a formal lease agreement is drafted. The LOI covers key terms like rent, lease duration, tenant improvements, and operating costs.
Partially. Most sections are explicitly non-binding - they outline proposed terms but do not obligate either party to execute a lease. However, the confidentiality clause, exclusivity clause, and governing law provision are expressly binding and enforceable.
In a gross lease, you pay one flat rent amount and the landlord covers operating expenses. In a triple net lease, you pay a lower base rent plus your share of property taxes, building insurance, and common area maintenance. NNN leases are standard for retail and industrial spaces.
A tenant improvement allowance is money the landlord contributes toward the cost of building out or renovating the space. The amount is negotiable and typically higher for longer lease terms.
After both parties sign the LOI, the typical timeline to a signed lease is 4-8 weeks. More complex deals can take longer, but the binding exclusivity clause protects the tenant during this period.
Instant PDF download · Updated for 2026
Instant PDF download · Updated for 2026