Your commercial lease expiration date might feel far off – until it isn’t. Before you know it, you are 12 months out with no plan, fewer options, and a landlord who knows it. The Twin Cities commercial real estate market right now is a paradox – office vacancy is high across the metro, but rents are still rising, up nearly 3% in early 2026. That means the decisions you make around your lease expiration carry more weight than ever. Whether you are planning to stay, renegotiate, or move on, here are nine steps to take right now.
1. Pull Out Your Lease and Read It Carefully
Before you do anything else, find your original lease agreement and every amendment that has been signed since. You need to know three things: your exact expiration date, your required notice period, and whether you have a renewal option – and when that option expires. Most commercial leases require written notice of your intent to renew or vacate anywhere from six to eighteen months in advance. Missing that window can cost you your renewal rights entirely or lock you into terms you did not want.
2. Mark Every Critical Deadline on Your Calendar
Once you know your dates, make them impossible to miss. Set reminders at the 18-month, 12-month, and 6-month marks before expiration. Commercial real estate moves slowly – finding a new space, negotiating terms, and completing a build-out can easily take a year or more. If you wait until you feel the urgency, you have already lost negotiating leverage. The businesses that get the best outcomes are the ones that start early, not the ones that scramble.
3. Honestly Assess Your Current Space
Before you decide whether to stay or go, take a hard look at whether your current space is actually working for your business. Has your team grown or shrunk since you signed? Does the layout still make sense for how your people work today? Is the location still convenient for your clients and employees? The end of a lease is one of the few moments where you have real power to make a change – do not waste it by defaulting to whatever is easiest in the short term.
4. Research the Current Market Before Talking to Your Landlord
Knowledge is your biggest negotiating asset. Before you have a single conversation with your landlord, understand what comparable spaces in the Twin Cities are actually leasing for right now. The market is uneven – some submarkets have vacancy rates above 30% while well-positioned corridors like France Avenue are holding steady near 10%. That gap matters enormously when you sit down to negotiate. A tenant who walks in with market data negotiates from strength. A tenant who walks in without it negotiates from hope.
5. Decide on Your Strategy – Stay, Renegotiate, or Relocate
Now that you know your lease, your space, and the market, it is time to make a decision. You have three real options. You can renew and negotiate better terms. You can relocate to a space that fits your business better. Or you can downsize or restructure your footprint entirely. Each path has real financial implications, and none of them should be made without a clear-eyed look at your growth trajectory, your budget, and what your employees actually need. There is no universally right answer – but there is a right answer for your business.
6. Negotiate Hard If You Are Staying
Renewal is not just about locking in another term – it is your best opportunity to dramatically improve your situation. Even in a market where rents are rising, landlords would rather keep a known tenant than absorb the cost and uncertainty of finding a new one. That gives you more leverage than you might think. Push for a tenant improvement allowance to refresh the space, ask for free rent concessions, and explore whether you can build in early termination rights or more flexibility on the term length. Do not just sign what they put in front of you.
7. Plan Your Exit Carefully If You Are Leaving
If you decide to move, leaving your current space is not as simple as handing over the keys. Most commercial leases require you to restore the space to its original condition – which can mean removing fixtures, patching walls, and in some cases paying contractors to undo improvements you made years ago. Get bids from contractors early so you are not surprised by the cost. Document the condition of the space thoroughly with photos and video before you leave to protect your security deposit from unfair deductions.
8. Avoid Holdover at All Costs
If your lease expires and you have not signed a new agreement or given proper notice to vacate, you become a holdover tenant. This is one of the most expensive mistakes a business can make. Most holdover clauses set the penalty at 150% to 200% of your regular monthly rent. On a $50,000 per month lease, that is an extra $25,000 or more every single month you stay past the expiration date. It is entirely avoidable with early planning – and entirely painful when it is not.
9. Work With a Tenant Representative
Commercial leases are complex legal documents, and the landlord almost always has more experience at the negotiating table than the tenant. A tenant representative works exclusively for you – not the landlord – and brings market data, negotiating experience, and deal knowledge that can save you significantly more than their cost. In a market as nuanced as the Twin Cities right now, having someone in your corner who understands which buildings are hungry for tenants and which are not is an enormous advantage.
Your Lease Expiration Is Coming – Summerhill Commercial Can Help You Navigate It.
Whether you are 18 months out or 6 months out, the right move is to start the process now. Summerhill Commercial Real Estate in Eden Prairie works with businesses across the Twin Cities to make sure lease expirations become opportunities – not emergencies. From market analysis and lease reviews to negotiations and relocations, the team at Summerhill is in your corner from the first conversation to the final signature. Reach out today to start a conversation about what your next move looks like.