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Rooftop Cell Site Lease Negotiations / HOME

Rooftop Cell Site Lease Negotiations

The differences Between Tower and
Rooftop Cell Site Leases

Many building owners are drawn to the possibility of leasing space on a rooftop for a cell site believing that they are just leasing unused roof space. However, the rooftop cell site lease presents an entirely separate set issues for the building owner to consider. Among these are the structural issues as well as access issues.

A rooftop cell site lease is often structured very similarly to a cell tower lease, however there is often less space for the transmission equipment. Furthermore, while a tower is often owned by the wireless carrier or a third party cell tower company, the rooftop owner can lease his rooftop to multiple carriers and receive multiple income streams.

Left to their own devices, the carrier will utilize the space most efficiently for their purposes sometimes destroying the opportunity for the building owner to lease to another carrier. They rarely do this to prohibit the additional users; instead, they just utilize the cheapest installation they can.

Another issue incumbent in the rooftop cell site lease is the attachment to the roof or parapet of the building. Once again, the carrier is looking for the easiest and cheapest way of installing the equipment. Sometimes this installation may void your roofing warranty, and other times, it may cause leaking. Trying to get a carrier to repair this damage can be difficult as the carrier will often claim that the roof was installed improperly. There are many alternatives for installing the coaxial cable and antennas on the rooftop. We can help you ascertain which of these is the best alternative for you.

Other issues to be concerned with include access and noise. For residential or condo buildings, the tenants may not appreciate having a cell site technician coming through the building at all hours. The standard rooftop cell site lease requires that the carrier have 24/7 access, although this is negotiable. Limitations can be placed on the type of access so that your tenants do not complain regarding the cell site.

Negotiating the lease rate in a rooftop cell site lease is similar to negotiating a tower lease, although there are often other buildings that the carrier could use. Thus it becomes imperative that the building owner understand the competitive advantage (or lack thereof) that he has in cell site lease negotiations. As with towers, two properties that are less than a half-mile apart can have distinctly different values to the carriers. Furthermore, the same rooftop can have different value to two different carriers. Most landowners start negotiations with the amount they are getting from the existing leases on their buildings, which assumes they negotiated those leases well. This can be a bad assumption to make that might leave money on the table. We can assess how your lease compares to other leases in the area based upon our cell site lease rent database.

Steel in the Air has assisted numerous rooftop owners with negotiating the rooftop cell site lease as well as advising them on installation issues. We can assist you with a negotiation for your roof. Unfortunately, we can not help you lease your property if you have not already been contacted by a carrier. So please don't contact us unless you have a cell site on your roof already or have been approached by a wireless carrier to negotiate a lease for a cell site.

If you have existing rooftop leases and wonder whether they are paying what they should, check out our rooftop cell site audit services.

Please contact us.