Condo Media - July 2018 - 53

year over the life of the lease). Once the
communications facility has been constructed (at the carrier's sole expense),
the association has little in the way of
any obligations beyond allowing carrier
personnel access to the rooftop or other
wireless facilities for the purpose of repairing and maintaining the equipment.
Condominium buildings that are of
sufficient height or are located in particularly excellent locations can sometimes attract the attention of more than
one wireless company so that some condominium associations are fortunate
enough to have multiple streams
of revenue from multiple leases.
Although the prospect of receiving
money every month for up to 30 years
while essentially doing nothing sounds
great, it is unfortunately difficult to land
one of these agreements. Most wireless companies allow potential lessors
to offer space through the company's
website, but the odds of even getting a
response from the carrier are low. It is
more likely that the wireless provider
will come to you. Some things they
are looking for are high buildings with
plenty of flat roof space, or a large
stretch of land near a paved road. The
applicable zoning laws also must allow
the presence of the communication
equipment. Further, the company
will likely need unfettered access to
the building or land. It is unlikely this
would pose a problem, but it is a consideration. If the association's building
or property is the right type, it is worth
considering soliciting these companies.
A constant, long-term stream of rental
money could fund a much-needed and
long-neglected project.
CABLE PROVIDER ACCESS
Although admittedly not in the same
league as signing a wireless lease that
will generate hundreds of thousands
of dollars in revenue over its 30-year
term, another means by which a
condominium association may raise
funds without involving unit owners or
banks is by entering into an agreement
with companies that may already have
a presence at your property-local
internet, phone, and cable television
providers such as Comcast, Verizon.
Despite the fact that state and federal

Although they are limited and may not universally apply to all
properties, believe it or not, there are ways for a condominium
association to obtain money to fund projects without the need to
assess unit owners or take out a bank loan.
law gives cable providers a right to access multi-unit residential properties
for the purpose of serving its subscribers, there are circumstances in which a
cable provider may pay a condominium
association.
In addition to access to a condominium building, cable companies
sometimes want additional rights that
can only be granted to them by the
association. These primarily include
exclusive marketing rights and/or the
exclusive use of condominium association-owned wiring and infrastructure.
Exclusive marketing rights do not
prohibit other cable providers from
marketing to unit owners through the
mail and the internet. Marketing rights,
instead, consist of the exclusive ability
of the cable company to market its services at the condominium property in
the form of advertisements, signs, and
other materials, the ability to hold promotional events at the condominium,
and other marketing activities.
Exclusive marketing rights also
means that the condominium association cannot grant the cable provider's
competitors any marketing rights at
the property. Typically, in conjunction
with exclusive marketing rights, a cable
company will also request exclusive
rights to certain wiring in the building
(typically between the entry point of
exterior cabling and the individual
units). Although a condominium association cannot keep a cable company
"out" of a condominium building, they
can grant one company the exclusive
right to use the existing wiring and
prevent other companies from using
this infrastructure. While exclusive
wiring usage does not prevent a
competitor from accessing a specific
condominium, it will require the other
companies to install their own wiring,
thus increasing the cost to access the
condominium building.

As part of such agreements, the cable
provider will often pay a one-time
"door fee" (essentially a set amount
ranging from $75 to $175 per unit) to
the association. The door fee itself is
straight revenue to the association,
but it is important to consider whether
binding the association in this way and
reducing competition for the unit owners is worth the trade-off. Sometimes
a cable provider will agree to share
the revenues from the unit owners'
subscription to certain services with
the provider with the association. The
likely revenue stream here is small, and
the agreements can get complicated,
but some money is certainly better than
no money.
LAUNDRY FACILITIES
Similar agreements that involve revenue sharing with the condominium
association are leases or agreements
pursuant to which a company supplies
and operates a laundry room facility
and pays the association a share of the
revenues obtained by the unit owners'
use of the machines. Again, since the
condominium is responsible for providing space to house the laundry facility
as well as the electrical utilities needed
to power the equipment, the actual
amounts the association may be paid
are likely relatively low.
As with any other contract, the association should have its attorney review
any proposed agreements or leases and
potentially be involved in the actual
negotiations.
n JOHN SHAFFER,
ESQ., IS A PARTNER
AND HALEY BYRON,
ESQ., AN ASSOCIATE
WITH THE LAW FIRM
OF MARCUS, ERRICO,
EMMER & BROOKS PC.

July 2018 CONDOMEDIA

Condo Media - July 2018

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