Overview

Verizon, as millions of their customers will know, is a name synonymous with the invention of the cell phone. As the leading provider of telecommunications throughout America, they own a substantial amount of high visibility, high premium real estate with a superior credit rating for potential net lease investors. They are known to offer ten year terms for stand-alone properties, but typically concessions must be made for Verizon’s strong inclination to include early termination clauses. Such stipulations may vary between year 5-7 in each lease, often times providing opportunity for landlords to claim an extra year of rent in the process if proceeding with renewals. Being rather strong negotiators, another common part of the agreement stipulates responsibilities to the landlord for building maintenance and associated costs. Verizon operations often work within a set of Limited Partnerships to maintain and secure new assets, licensing, and real estate holdings. Add to this the variance in tenants and guarantors on each lease signing, and it goes without saying due diligence is required in each case. Despite the above drawbacks, Verizon’s ‘A’ credit rating often balances out the investment opportunity from the bird’s eye perspective, and will provide a reassuring level of financial security, Verizon generally prefers four thousand sq. ft. structures, with parcel requirements floating between 4/5 to 1 1/4 acre lot sizes. These locations often serves as display areas for new products and technologies, while further maintaining their excellent credit status. More recently, they have been integrating ‘Fios’ offerings into retail locations, which is an added peace of mind when considering future growth potential. Fios is really a combination of product and service, based on fiber optics and high speed internet services.