How Will Commercial Landlords React to Biden's New Vaccine Mandate? Florida Provides a Clue
"If they haven’t done so already, they’ll take the full step in requiring their employees to be vaccinated. That will benefit those large businesses, but also benefit the landlords whose buildings are occupied by these large businesses," said a South Florida attorney.
President Joe Biden announced a new rule Thursday that could impact 80 million U.S. private-sector employees, mandating that all employers with more than 100 workers must require vaccination or weekly COVID-19 tests. What does this mean for commercial landlords?
It’s an especially notable development for Florida, according to Miami attorney Jeff Gilbert of Saul Ewing Arnstein, who noted Gov. Ron DeSantis has fought past mandates despite high infection rates.
“I think there will be butting heads with the governor based upon the executive orders that he’s issued previously, including the executive order 2181, which he issued in April, that prohibited businesses from requiring that any patrons or customers provide documentation that they are vaccinated,” said Gilbert. ”It may be that the governor may try to issue additional mandates or have the state file additional lawsuits in response to the president’s mandate.”
Despite possible pushback, Gilbert said he believes many commercial landlords and tenants in South Florida will look at how the cruise lines and school districts have handled their vaccine mandates and follow suit.
There will always be challenges, said Gilbert, but with the mandate, landlords will now have grounds to require vaccinations if issues with tenants do arise.
“I really don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. I think what’s going to happen is the tenants themselves, the law firms, accounting firms, tech companies and banks, if they haven’t done so already, they’ll take the full step in requiring their employees to be vaccinated. That will benefit those large businesses, but also benefit the landlords whose buildings are occupied by these large businesses,” said Gilbert.
In South Florida, tenants have been mostly unsuccessful in litigation against their landlords or insurers for claims of business interruption, or in attempts to get out of leases during the pandemic.
So far in Miami, not one commercial tenant has challenged a landlord’s efforts to make their building safer by requiring certain COVID-19 precautions be taken, such as mask wearing.
“For the most part, landlords have taken care of their common areas by cleaning the lobbies, taking care of the launchpads, and the entrance and exit doors, the elevator doors and lobby and common spaces that exist throughout a commercial lobby. They’ve also required the tenant to report to them when the tenant themselves become aware of their employee who has contracted the virus so that the building can swoop in and clean, but also notify the other commercial tenants in the office buildings that there have been COVID cases reported,” said Gilbert.
The floors in which COVID cases are reported are made known to the rest of the building so that they can be sanitized, according to Gilbert. Although tenants have required masks within offices, Gilbert said he’s unaware of any mandates so far by landlords. He has seen landlords mandate mask-wearing in common areas.
Whatever comes next, Biden’s mandate will help clarify any issues tenants and landlords may have amid the pandemic.
“I think that will move this issue along for purposes of keeping our workspace healthy and busy and profitable, and providing a path for employers to get their workers back in the commercial spaces,” Gilbert said. “That will benefit not only those tenants but the landlords. I think there needs to be a significant working relationship between the landlords and the tenants.”