Vertical Bridge is a wireless infrastructure company that owns, operates, and manages vertical infrastructure, including cell towers, billboards, and rooftop sites. They own or master lease 17,000 cell towers and manage many more. Vertical Bridge claims to have 500,000 sites in its portfolio, but the vast majority are not currently leased to cellular providers.
Vertical Bridge formed a joint venture to build and operate towers in 2023 where both companies participate in the profits on the towers. They followed up in 2024 by acquiring 6,000+ towers from Verizon. If you are contacted by Vertical Bridge, chances are that the new tower will be used by Verizon.
Steel in the Air is not affiliated with Vertical Bridge; we advise landowners who either have or are negotiating cell tower leases with Vertical Bridge. If you have found this page while looking for Vertical Bridge, just add “.com” to their name and you can find their website. Landowners primarily look to Steel in the Air for assistance in the following areas.
Negotiating Vertical Bridge Tower Leases
Vertical Bridge is a build-to-suit tower company, meaning that they build cell towers on behalf of wireless service providers and then lease space back to the provider for use of the tower. Vertical Bridge has master lease agreements with all the larger wireless carriers. The typical arrangement works like this:
- Wireless carrier tells Vertical Bridge where it needs a new cell site (search ring).
- Vertical Bridge sends out site acquisition agents to inspect the search ring and find a suitable parcel of land that meets zoning, construction, and leasing criteria.
- Vertical Bridge negotiates a lease with the landowner.
- Vertical Bridge submits the location to the carrier.
- If the carrier approves, Vertical Bridge and the carrier enter into a site lease agreement or site lease amendment under their master lease.
- Vertical Bridge constructs the tower at its cost. The ground lease with the landowner commences typically at the start of construction.
- Wireless carrier pays Vertical Bridge a monthly lease rate to collocate on the tower.
- Vertical Bridge tries to get other wireless carriers to lease the tower.
Steel in the Air assists landowners with negotiating the lease with Vertical Bridge. We review the proposed site and advise on how much Vertical Bridge needs to lease your specific property and whether they have other alternatives. We advise on how much the lease is worth to Vertical Bridge and make recommendations on terms that can be improved in the Vertical Bridge lease agreement.
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How Much Does a Vertical Bridge Cell Tower Lease Pay in Rent?
It depends upon several factors:
- How unique is the subject parcel?
- In other words, could Vertical Bridge simply go across the street and find another willing landowner with a similar parcel?
- Where in the country is the parcel located?
- Parts of the country have higher land value and higher lease rates as a result. For example, New York City and San Francisco have the highest lease rates in the country while Houston has some of the lowest.
- Is the area rural, suburban, or urban?
- Generally, lease rates are lowest in rural areas and highest in urban areas.
- Are there zoning regulations that restrict the placement of a tower?
- If there is no zoning in the area, then Vertical Bridge can likely choose any parcel and doesn’t have to pay as much.
- If there are zoning regulations, this may limit their options and cause them to pay more.
The average lease rate proposed by Vertical Bridge in our database is around $1,000/mo. It is important to remember though that lease rates very widely and Vertical Bridge typically attempts to keep their lease rates low. So, if you have an offer from them that is lower than $1,000/mo., this doesn’t mean you should counteroffer at $1,000/mo. Vice versa, if you have an offer above $1,000/mo., it doesn’t mean that is fair market value of the lease. The lease may also include an escalation clause where the lease increases 1% or more each year. Vertical Bridge tries to keep their escalation low.
What Does Vertical Bridge Require in their Cell Tower Lease?
Vertical Bridge’s standard template lease requests the following:
- 50 years (ten 5-year terms).
- No termination rights by the landowner, but liberal termination rights by Vertical Bridge with 60 days’ notice.
- Vertical Bridge will reimburse taxes attributable to the tower/improvements.
- Exclusive right to operate communication facilities on the property.
- Vertical Bridge will remove the tower within 90 days.
- Vertical Bridge may sublease at will.
- Vertical Bridge will maintain insurance of $1,000,000.
- Right of first refusal which prevents the landowner from selling the lease without offering to Vertical Bridge first.
How Does Steel in the Air Help?
On Vertical Bridge proposed leases, Steel in the Air provides consulting services to landowners who are considering a proposed Vertical Bridge lease. Unlike our competitors who will try to take 20-30% of your lease going forward, we charge a flat fee for assisting you (generally, in the range of $3,000 to $3,500).
On Vertical Bridge existing leases, we can advise on the fair market value of the lease going forward. If your lease is close to expiration or Vertical Bridge wants to extend or expand their lease, we can help you determine how much you can charge. Fortunately, once the tower is standing on your property, you have much more room to negotiate, and we can help you figure out what that is worth. These are also done on a flat fee basis; our fees start at $4,000 and go up from there depending upon the complexity of the situation and how many carriers are on the tower.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions about a proposed or existing Vertical Bridge lease. Here is our commitment to you:
- The initial call is free.
- The call and questions are confidential. Unlike some of our competitors, we will NEVER sell your data or give it to anyone else.
- If we don’t think we can help you or think it is too early to retain us- we will let you know that immediately.