Welcome to 2026 where Landlords are now in the driver’s seat once again, although not in the way they imagined.

 Since Covid we have seen a record number of office properties that have failed.  Just this month, we are seeing many New Jersey commercial properties being listed on the Ten X and other similar auction sites with more appearing each day.  We have all seen in recent years how many empty office buildings have been demolished, repurposed, re-imagined or those that are just languishing in a state of disrepair. 

In last month’s newsletter, THE WINNERS, I outlined the tremendous consolidation of office tenants at the surviving landlord properties as business owners are now aggressively seeking a safe haven.

For those who may be new readers of this newsletter, a landlord market occurs when the perceived negotiating leverage switches away from tenants toward landlords who are then able to dictate terms and even pick and choose amongst a variety of perspective tenants as they compete for the remaining vacant space at their properties. 

What is new today, is that because the cost of new office construction is so high, over $100 per square foot on average, only the few well capitalized landlords are able to provide turnkey construction buildouts. These landlords in turn require a long-term lease commitment of 10 years or more to fully amortize the buildout.

For the majority of Landlords who don’t have access to this level of capital, they must compete for short-term tenants, those willing to lease space mostly in its current configuration.

We see many business owners whose leases may be expiring soon. These tenants are faced with the challenge of trying to understand the realities they must face in a landlord market environment.  Realities such as how to leverage a better deal when renewing the lease or how to find and compete for space should they need to consider other options. 

Dickstein Real Estate Services are pure tenant advisors that are actively working with a variety of business owners to provide conflict free advice about ways to compete in a landlord market.  If you would like to understand your options, why not give us a call, and find out why, at Dickstein Real Estate Services, OUR DIFFERENCE IS YOUR ADVANTAGE®

Regards,

Lawrence Dickstein