subject: Benefiting From Your Cell Tower Site Lease [print this page] If you are a land owner that has been approached by a wireless cell phone company about leasing your land to them for the erection of one of their cell phone towers, you need to be aware of the different stipulations, laws and advantages that should apply to you in order to be profitable and successful with your lease agreement. When the cell phone company comes to you with an offer and you are considering leasing part of your property to them, it would be advantageous for you to have help from the inside armed with knowledge to help you get the most from your lease agreement.
You need to understand exactly what it is that you are getting into, what you are agreeing to and what rights to that piece of land in question you give up during the duration of the lease. Your goals are to maximize your revenue from the deal, and you need to minimize your obligations at the same time. How do you know what rights you have? How do you know what you give up? Can the phone company back out? Can they come onto your property at any time without your additional consent? There are some factors that you should take into consideration for these deals to achieve those goals when you talk with a carrier or with a vertical real estate company.
The first thing you should consider with the cell tower ground lease is the location and topography of your land. A carrier will want to hold an investigation of the site to determine how feasible it would be to put a tower up. Most of the time, a suitable site will be about 2,500 square feet in area with land that is flat, has few natural barriers and is easily accessible. You are not responsible for hiring people to do the survey, the phone company is.
Be sure that you are familiar with local ordinances that are in place to be sure that you will even be permitted to put a tower up on your property. Many municipalities require that the land owners get a variance granted (or at least an exception granted) before construction of a cell tower is in place and before a cell tower ground lease is signed. If you will need special approval for everything to go through, the lease agreement should have the carrier be the party that is responsible for getting all of the necessary permits. Should you have any questions about this, you can contact a company that serves as a liason between you and the cell phone company; in fact, you should not ever enter into an agreement without one of these companies being involved. They work not only for the cell phone company but also for you to make sure that your income from the lease is secure and that you are reaping the most benefit possible from the deal.
