selling property with a tower on it. Can I keep the lease?

This is off-topic and I know will not answer your question, but I am interested in knowing about how much you make every month from this lease, if you don't mind throwing out a number...doesn't have to be exact.
Andy

 

Dear PaTowerGirl:

I'm an attorney in California; you are not in California. I can't advise you on Pennsylvania law, but I can give you some general ideas.

Most importantly, I'll start with the big one: find yourself a local 'dirt lawyer' (real estate attorney) that knows state law and get proper legal counsel for your specific situation. Having gotten the important item out of the way, generally leases run with the land as they are an interest in the land. I suspect that the lease speaks to the issue of sale of the land under the tower, so your attorney can (and should) advise you on that issue. Whether you can subdivide is a local land use/zoning issue that, once again, should be addressed by a dirt lawyer in Pennsylvania.

Are you getting some drift from my answers? Yeah, it's.... say it with me ...
get yourself a dirt lawyer in Pennsylvania that can properly advise you on your duties to the carrier under the lease, and your (remaining) rights. Once you know both, you'll have a much better idea on how to proceed.

Good luck!

Jonathan Kramer

 

I would think the answer is no. That is akin to saying you are selling a house that is leased and has a tennant in it. You cannot sell the house and continue to collect the rent. If you do figure this one out you'd be a millionaire.

-Jay

 

Jay, actually its quite possible to sell a house leased to a tenant and continue to collect the rent as a former owner. What happens is that the price of the house is discounted to reflect the rent the buyer would have received had she/he assumed the lease.

Is this loosely akin to a landlord, tenant, subtenant relationship.

Why would someone want to do a transaction in this way? It could be for tax purposes.

Jonathan

 

PATowergirl: Do you currently own the tower and the land, or does someone else own the tower and lease your property where it sits?

If you own the tower, you can sell the land and get a ground lease so long as you don't convey ownership of the tower itself in the deal. This way you can still collect the rent from tower tenants.

If you only own the land, and lease that land to the tower owner, your transfer of ownership in the land also transfers your ability to collect the rent on it, aside from a separate agreement. If it were me buying your land in this scenario, I would expect to either:

A) Get a discount from the purchase price in exchange for future receivables.

B) Pay a premium on the land accounting for the future receivables.

Like the lawyer said, find a real estate attorney. Since you are a Site Acq. for a carrier, I imagine you have access to one for at least a friendly consult.

 

Well, your right to the revenue is based on your ownership interested in the ground (product). When you transfer this interest, you transfer the ability to collect revenue on it. I am positive there are terms and conditions in the lease stipulating the affect on the lease when there is a transfer of property ownership.

Unless the buyer is a complete idiot, they would not allow you to collect receivables on their asset.

 

The only way I can think of (and IANAL) would be for you to have it transfer with encumbrance -- but you'll have to give money off the price of the land which may outweigh the tower income.

TANSTAAFL -- there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

 

This is a sticky situation, there are loads of factors effecting this. I just found this helpful article on the topic of cell tower land lease rates, thought it might be of help, http://leaseadvisors.com/blog/Cell_Tower_Land_Lease_Rates_How_are_Lease_Rates_Determined