Crown Castle International Corp., d/b/a Crown Castle, is the second largest cell tower company in the United States. Crown Castle owns, develops, and operates over 40,000 cell towers in North America, providing coverage to 98 of the top 100 markets.
Crown Castle-Lease Buyout Requests: Crown Castle is on a mission to buy as many existing cell tower leases as possible, with special attention paid to the AT&T and T-Mobile leases they recently purchased. Property owners receive a one-time payment from Crown Castle in exchange for a long-term easement. Crown Castle is covering all the bases to ensure their investments are secure for the short and long-term. A significant gap exists, however, between the value received by Crown Castle and the purchase price paid to property owner. Crown Castle will enjoy the return on their investments for decades to come, while property owners receive a only a small portion of the true value of the cell site.
Is it really better to give than to receive?
Crown Castle-Tower Lease Extensions: Crown Castle, along with many other tower companies, is searching for opportunities to extend their current cell tower leases for 30 years or more. Crown Castle insures the extended lease terms by paying a small signing bonus and/or nominal rent increases. Uninformed property owners often make poor decisions that can result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars, over the life of lease. A few hundred dollars more per month translates to a significant amount of money accrued over 10, 20 or more years. Signing an agreement to extend a cell tower lease is an important transaction that should not be taken lightly.
Crown Castle-Lease Expansions/Consents: Currently, Crown Castle is expanding the areas where they are leasing space. In some cases, they must re-engage the property owner to obtain this space. This space is often needed to accommodate additional tenants and generate more revenue. What is Crown Castle REALLY asking for? It is vital that property owners understand the following key points:
- What are the exact specifications of the space requested? How much of the requested space is actually needed? Is the tenant planning to utilize additional space for future expansions?
- By giving your consent, how might this decision impact you now and in the future?
- What is the “true value”—not the “value of the square footage”— of the requested space?
If Crown Castle has contacted you, please use caution before signing any agreement that has been presented to you.
Contact us today! We will review your lease and cell tower site to determine which options will translate into optimal opportunities.
