Commercial Lease Calculator
Calculate commercial lease total cost online free — base rent, NNN charges, escalations and total occupancy cost. Nothing leaves your device — fast and private.
Commercial lease effective rent & NNN
- Total monthly rent (Base + CAM)$7,395.83
- Effective rate per sq ft / yr$34.10
- Monthly base rent$5,833.33
- Monthly CAM / NNN expenses$1,562.50
- Total rent over full term$426,250
Calculated in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere.
A commercial lease calculator that reports the number landlords do not lead with:effective rent per square foot, with CAM and free months folded in. Enter the area, base rate, CAM rate, term and any abated months. Everything is computed in your browser and nothing is transmitted.
Three rents, one lease
Using the defaults — 2,500 sq ft at $28/sq ft base, $7.50 CAM, 5 years, 3 free months:
| Figure | Per sq ft / yr | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Headline base rate | $28.00 | Base rent only — what gets advertised |
| All-in gross rate | $35.50 | Base + CAM, ignoring abatement |
| Effective rate | $34.10 | Base + CAM, less the 3 free months |
The spread between $28.00 and $34.10 is 22%, and it is entirely made of things that are not the headline number. That is the whole argument for comparing offers on effective rent: a landlord quoting $26 with $12 of CAM costs more than one quoting $30 with $6, and nothing about the advertised figures tells you so.
What the monthly figure breaks into
| Component | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Base rent | $70,000 | $5,833.33 |
| CAM / NNN | $18,750 | $1,562.50 |
| Total | $88,750 | $7,395.83 |
| Across the 5-year term | $426,250 after abatement | |
CAM is 21% of that monthly total. Tenants who budget from the base rate alone are short by a fifth before they have paid a utility bill, and CAM is a reimbursement of real costs, so it drifts upward with the building's actual expenses rather than being fixed by your lease.
Free rent is worth less than it sounds
Abatement is the concession landlords give most readily, because it costs them less than a lower rate. Two reasons, and this calculator reflects both.
First, free months abate base rent only. You are still invoiced for CAM throughout, so "three months free" on the defaults saves $17,500 of base rent and nothing at all on the $4,687.50 of CAM due over those months. Second, spread across a five-year term that $17,500 works out at just $1.40 per square foot per year — which is exactly the gap between the $35.50 gross rate and the $34.10 effective rate.
So three months free is worth about a $1.40 reduction in rate. If a landlord offers you either, and the rate cut is worth more than that, take the rate cut — it compounds across every year of the term instead of being a one-off at the start.
What this calculator does not model
Stated plainly, because commercial leases are made of exceptions:
| Item | Typical | Workaround |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rent escalation | 2–4% a year | Enter your average rate across the term, not year one |
| Tenant improvement allowance | Varies widely | Subtract it from the total yourself |
| Percentage rent (retail) | % of turnover above a break point | Not modelled |
| Security deposit | 1–6 months | Budget separately; it is not a cost |
| Utilities, parking, signage | Often billed separately | Add to CAM if your lease bundles them |
| Load factor / rentable vs usable | 10–20% add-on | Enter the rentable area you are billed for |
That last row catches people out. You pay rent on rentable square feet, which includes your share of lobbies and corridors, not the usable area you can put desks in. Enter the rentable figure from the lease, or every number here will be understated.
Questions worth asking before you sign
- Is CAM capped? An uncapped CAM is an open-ended liability. Ask for a cap on controllable expenses.
- What is the escalation clause? Not modelled here, and over a ten-year term it dominates everything else.
- Is the quoted area rentable or usable? The load factor can be 15% of your rent.
- What is included in CAM? Property tax and insurance usually are; management fees and capital repairs are negotiable.
- Rate cut or free months? Price both here — a rate cut usually wins over a long term.
Related calculators
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does the default example show?
2,500 square feet at 28 dollars per square foot base rent with 7.50 dollars of CAM, over 5 years with 3 free months. That is 7,395.83 dollars a month — 5,833.33 of base plus 1,562.50 of CAM — and 426,250 dollars across the term, giving an effective rate of 34.10 dollars per square foot per year.
What is effective rent and why does it beat the headline rate?
Effective rent is the total you actually pay divided by the area and the years, so it folds CAM and any free months into one comparable figure. On the defaults the headline base rate is 28 dollars, the all-in gross is 35.50, and the effective rate is 34.10 — three different numbers describing the same lease.
What are CAM or NNN charges?
Common area maintenance, and in most triple-net leases property tax and building insurance too. It is your pro-rata share of running the building, quoted per square foot per year on top of base rent. At 7.50 dollars against a 28 dollar base it is over a fifth of the total, which is why ignoring it wrecks a comparison.
Does free rent apply to CAM as well as base rent?
Almost never, and this calculator follows the usual practice: abated months reduce base rent only. You will still be invoiced for CAM during a rent-free period, which routinely surprises tenants who budgeted for a genuinely free month. On the defaults, 3 free months saves 17,500 dollars of base rent and nothing on CAM.
Does this model annual rent escalation?
No — there is no escalation field, so every year is priced at the rate you enter. Most real leases step base rent up 2 to 4 percent a year, so treat the total as a floor. A practical workaround is to enter your average rate across the term rather than the year-one rate.
How do I compare two offers properly?
Run each one and compare the effective rate per square foot per year, never the base rate. A landlord quoting 26 dollars with 12 dollars of CAM is more expensive than one quoting 30 with 6, and no amount of staring at the headline numbers makes that visible.
What else is not included?
Tenant improvement allowances, percentage rent on retail turnover, security deposits, parking, utilities billed separately, and any gross-versus-net conversion. Add or subtract those yourself — a TI allowance in particular can be worth more than several months of abatement.
Does it work for retail and warehouse space?
Yes, for anything quoted per square foot per year — office, retail, industrial or warehouse. It is not built for vehicle or equipment leases, which are financing agreements with a residual value rather than rent; the auto lease calculator handles those.