It is finally happening—well sort of. Cities and states acrossthe country have started to reopen; although a surge in outbreaksthis week has stalled or even reversed reopening plans. Still, asthe country moves toward reopening, both owners and tenants arewondering how it will impact rent deferral agreements. Depending onthe terms of the deferral agreements negotiated at the beginning ofthe pandemic, reopening could indicate that businesses will need tobegin paying rent once they open. However, many businesses arestill experiencing hardship, especially as government stimulus isdrying up.

"The logistics of reactivation of all real estate product typescontinues to be a hot topic, and many architectural and consultingfirms seek to assist in creative ways to use space," MarkLeverette of BPM LLP, tellsGlobeSt.com. "The space requirement calculations used havebeen in fluctuation over the last three months for many businesses.Some businesses may temporarily need more space per person, at thesame time as projecting both temporary and permanent increasedlevels of those working remotely."

So far, smaller landlords have been more flexible in providingrent deferral and lease modifications for tenants, but the requestsfor relief are likely to continue beyond the reopening."Anecdotally, to date, institutional landlords have been lesswilling to provide modifications while small business landlordshave been more flexible," says Leverette. "All landlords shouldexpect that these tenant requests will continue for an extendedperiod of time, and continued and creative negotiation will berequired."