Our Advisory Team

Negotiating New Cell Tower Leases In 2023

New Cell Tower Lease Negotiation Services

Since 2004, Steel in the Air has helped over 4,000 private and public landowners and municipal governments with new cell tower lease agreements and amendments and by helping negotiate favorable terms against wireless carriers, tower companies and lease buyout companies

As cell tower leasing consultants, we take pride in providing our clients with the best advice in consideration of all possible factors. If receiving fair market value for your wireless tower lease is important to you, then you have come to the right place. If making sure that your lease is well written and addresses future issues before you have them is important – we can help.

In 2023, we expect that the number of new cell tower leases to be negotiated should be similar to that in 2022 (if not slightly less). We believe that there could be between 2,500 and 5,000 new leases entered into for new towers on property and another 2,000 or so rooftop leases.

Contact Us

    We Can’t Help if You Haven’t Already Been Contacted to Lease Your Land

    While there are a lot of services we provide, we don’t offer help in finding someone to lease your property. It’s not just us either; if someone offers to help you get a tower on your property for a fee – run the opposite direction. See this page on why it is difficult to get a cell tower on your property and why we don’t offer services for landowners to do so.

    Here’s What We Can Do For You

    We will evaluate the terms and language of the cell tower contract, answer any questions you might have, and explain the real-world effects it will have on you in the short and long term. The perfect lease begins with the right cell phone tower lease agreement.

    Explain Industry Dynamics

    We will analyze current market dynamics – specifically involving the company that has approached you – to determine how valuable your unique property is relative to other viable options. We will also assess the probability of future expansions to your cell tower lease and the likelihood that the lease will be extended past the original terms vs. the possibility that the risk might be terminated due to mergers, acquisitions, and/or technological innovations.

    Provide Fair Market Valuation

    Using our proprietary lease rates database, we will determine what the fair market value of your lease is. We will then recommend rent, escalation, and revenue sharing amounts (if applicable), taking into consideration the net present value and future trends.

    Assist with Negotiations

    Most of our clients retain us to provide them the knowledge that they need to negotiate the lease themselves with the wireless carrier or tower company. Our valuations come with a year’s worth of free follow-up at no additional cost.

    Have You Been Approached by a Wireless Carrier Who is Interesting in Leasing Your Property?

    Because there is no MLS for cell tower leases and wireless carriers, and tower companies keep their lease data close to the chest, most people contacted by a wireless provider or cell tower company do not know where to begin the fair market valuation their property. Another obstacle is the fact that there is usually a large discrepancy between what cell tower leases command in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Furthermore, even two cell tower leases located just one mile apart may have distinctly different values.

    For example, you may find other websites claiming that $1,500 a month is a standard cell tower lease rate, but that is just bad advice. Landowners asking $1,500 a month may find the wireless carrier moving on to the candidate down the block. However, for some landowners, $1,500 a month might be too low, simply because some locations can command a higher price. The average cell tower ground lease in 2022 throughout the entire country (according to our cell tower lease database) is $1,300/mo. But for every $100/month lease, there is also a $10,000/mo. lease.

    While we would love to help you get a $10,000/month lease, they are like honest cell tower lease consultants such as Steel in the Air – very rare.

    The challenge is that no reliable public source for this information exists. If you have found this website, chances are you have already confirmed this in your research. Fortunately, at Steel in the Air, Inc., we maintain the most thorough cell site lease rate database in the industry. We have been gathering cell tower data for longer than most of our competitors have been in the industry. 

    Negotiating New Cell Tower Leases
    Negotiating New Cell Tower Leases

    Don’t assume that because your neighbor, friend, or cousin got “X” amount for their cell phone tower, you’ll receive the same offer. Chances are that: your properties are not the same; They are invariably different sizes; have different zoning classifications; have different ground elevation; and different proximities to cities and roadways. Every property is unique, so naturally, every location’s fair market value differs.

    In our fair market evaluations, we don’t look simply at the comparable lease data and other inquiries being made in the area; we also reverse engineer the process to gain an advantage from the carrier’s perspective. We’re able to do this because we were once owners of a wireless site acquisition firm. We have negotiated hundreds of leases on behalf of wireless carriers and tower companies, and we know the tactics and secrets they use better than anyone. We can reverse engineer what they are looking at and tell you areas where your property is strong or weak as the case may be.

    Our Due Diligence Improves Your Negotiating Position

    We’ll determine your bargaining position in consideration of the following three situations:

    1. Your property is truly unique, and the carrier has no other option. In this case, we try to determine the highest the carrier will pay before they choose to abandon the site acquisition plan. We love these situations because it becomes a question of how much they will pay before they walk.
    2. Your property is preferred but there are other options. In these situations, we attempt to determine how hard you can push before the carrier moves to another property.
    3. Your property is one of many properties in the area. Unfortunately, in these situations, the fair market value of your property is reduced to whatever your neighbor is willing to accept for a cell phone tower.

    Our experts can also help determine what bonus payments or services you can request that many wireless carriers will give freely. We will help you untangle the web of technical jargon in the cell phone tower lease and what it means to you. We can help you understand whether you should ask for revenue sharing, and if so, how much.

    Our consultants can advise you on how to negotiate your cell phone tower lease and when it’s time to “hold them or fold them” so you don’t lose the deal altogether.

    Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge necessary to negotiate your cell phone tower lease agreement on fair terms. Just consider for a moment the cost of forgoing a measly $100/month. Over 25 years, that adds up to $40,000 – significantly greater than the cost of our services. See our Cell Tower Lease Rate chart and our new Lease Rates Calculator.

    Please contact us for a free flat-rate quote on our services. We will take a quick look at your situation and will not take on a consultation unless we think we can be of value. If we think that there are clearly other options for the carrier, we will tell you that before you retain us.

    Check out the other experts out there and ask yourself why their websites look just like ours. Steel in the Air has been in business longer and serviced more clients than anyone else – and we got here by focusing on improving our client’s situations, not filling our own pocketbooks. We don’t take a percentage of your lease (which you will feel for years to come) in order to provide you with good information today.

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