A commercial lease is a contract for the use of non-residential property. Unlike residential leases, commercial leases are largely unregulated — there are no standard terms, and nearly everything is negotiable. The lease typically specifies base rent, lease term and renewal options, permitted use, responsibility for maintenance and repairs, common area charges, and conditions for termination.
The three most common structures are gross lease (landlord pays most operating costs), net lease (tenant pays some or all operating costs — taxes, insurance, maintenance), and percentage lease (base rent plus a percentage of sales above a threshold, common in retail).
A commercial lease is often a small business’s largest fixed cost and longest contractual commitment. See Negotiating a Commercial Lease.