The Contract That Ran One Way

An owner was days from signing a multi-year cellular agreement. On paper it looked routine. In practice, nearly every term ran in the carrier's favor.

The Situation

The owner had a long-term rooftop and in-building cellular arrangement on the table, negotiated directly with the carrier. Under pressure to close before a construction milestone, the team was ready to sign what they'd been handed — without an independent read on whether the economics and protections were fair.

What We Found

Brought in before signature, we pressure-tested the full agreement: rent and escalators well below market, a term length that locked the owner in with little flexibility, and liability and access provisions that quietly shifted risk onto the property. The upside the carrier stood to gain over the life of the deal was never reflected in what the owner received.

What We Did

We rebuilt the commercial case from the owner's side — benchmarking comparable deals, restructuring the rent and escalation schedule, tightening access and liability language, and giving the owner room to adapt as technology and tenancy change. Then we took it back to the table as the owner's representative.

The Outcome

The rebalanced agreement was signed on materially better terms, saving the owner several million dollars over its life — and leaving them with an asset that keeps working in their favor rather than against it.