The leasehold as an alternative ownership structure

Leaseholds play roles in many different types of transactions -- from single-family home purchases to multi-tenant office tower developments. Despite their flexibility, however, leaseholds are rare in the US and are not widely understood by investors and developers. Compared with freeholds, leaseholds involve additional layers of complexity and can present valuation challenges. If not structured thoughtfully, they can substantially erode the value of the real estate by lowering its quality and usability. Nevertheless, leaseholds can be useful devices to facilitate real estate investment and significantly impact communities by bringing together parties that would not have otherwise worked together. This thesis focuses on leaseholds in the US: how they are valued, how they are structured, and what issues they pose. It analyzes the motivations behind each party involved in a leasehold and finds that they can benefit from acting more like joint venture partners rather than opposing counterparts, specifically concerning issues related to leasehold improvement financing and the redevelopment option.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Real Estate. Program in Real Estate Development

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Lai, Justin(Justin C.)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• David Geltner.

• Center for Real Estate. Program in Real Estate Development.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123609

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123609