The cellular tower leasing sector of commercial real estate represents a potentially lucrative source of ancillary income for property owners. However, a lack of knowledge and understanding often puts them at a disadvantage compared to the major wireless providers. Enter Axiom Global Wireless, which focuses strictly on landlords and owners in leasing transactions. Here, CEO/principal David Morre and COO/principal Amber Brandhagen share how they approach their assignments. 

Q: This is a ‘what’s in a name’ type of question – your brand is Axiom Global Wireless. Do you represent the wireless industry, or the cellular service companies with their real estate? 

A. Moore: We are in the commercial real estate industry and I have been a broker for nearly 50 years. But quite the opposite in terms of representation, as we exclusively represent landlords and property owners with cell towers, cellular infrastructure and Edge computing installations. 

Brandhagen: We chose the word, Axiom, for our brand because the word means “a statement or principle accepted as true as the basis for an argument, or a self-evident truth.” That’s how strongly we want the CRE industry to know that we only represent landlords and property owners. 

Q: Why is that? It seems to me you have ample opportunity to represent one or more of the major carriers, such as T-Mobile, Verizon, and ATT, as there is major competition among the carriers to identify and build sites, to keep up with demand.  

A. Moore: In addition to the major carriers, you have the tower companies also out there seeking sites and locations, and we do not represent them, either. We have positioned ourselves as advocates for building owners and landlords with cellular towers because they have not been fairly represented for years, and to the advantage of cellular service carriers and tower operators. 

That is because building owners agree to cell tenants’ terms and conditions because they perceive the lease as free money. Tenants too– often get first right-of-refusal clauses, multiple options with fixed-rent increases, plus confidentiality and tenant-consent language that no brick-and-mortar investor would ever consider granting any tenant. The cellular tower facility attached to or adjacent to the building becomes almost an afterthought for building owners. Cutting to the chase, this translates into long-term ramifications that could be problematic to the building owners as well as non-cellular tenants occupying those facilities.  

For instance: In a first right-of-refusal lease-clause, tenants get the right to match an offer from a third-party buyer before the landlord can sell the lease to a third party. This devalues the income stream, which negatively impacts the property owner from executing a quick sale to outside investment groups. Further, it cedes a portion of control of the property sale to the tenant.  

There is also the issue of rental rates. In most real estate markets and submarkets, there is information available on average asking rental rates, yet that doesn’t exist, for the most part, in the cellular tower leasing industry, and most of the owners of those facilities have been leaving millions of dollars on the table by under-charging their occupiers. 

Regular real estate brokers do not typically understand all the nuances of the cellular industry, so we step in to fill the void. 

Q. How do you add value to property owners and landlords, in terms of leasing their cellular towers to the cell service and tower companies? 

A. Brandhagen: Foremost, we negotiate stronger cell tower lease agreements, and evaluate lease buyout offers. We also renegotiate amendments and extensions, provide lease audits and conflict resolution services. Depending on the client and their requirements, we also manage multi-site portfolios across the U.S. and provide cell site management. In the past few years, we added unlocking hidden values in billboard lease agreements. It is a similar valuation process to cell towers.  

Moore: Perhaps the greatest value we offer property owners with cellular service infrastructure is by helping them create balanced lease agreements to enhance the value of their properties, and give them more control of their buildings than they sometimes cede to tenants in the buildings. 

Q. Can you provide an example? 

A. Brandhagen: Property owners with a cell site on their land may have received offers to “buy” their lease. What these offers typically involve is selling their lease agreement and assigning it via a recorded easement—not just assigning the lease income. Understanding how easements work in these transactions is critical to protecting long-term property values and ensuring that property owners make informed decisions. 

Moore: An easement is a recorded agreement granting a third party—usually a wireless infrastructure company—the right to access and use a portion of a property for a wireless communications facility. In a cell tower context, this typically includes the exclusively leased ground space or rooftop where the equipment and antennas are located and the path needed to access it. 

Unlike traditional cell leases, which have lease termination dates and possible renegotiation periods, easements are either long-term (often 99 years) or permanent. This distinction may have implications for how a property can be used or sold in the future. We can get into this in greater detail, and provide the easement options, over a phone call for interested parties. 

Q. There are about 500,000 cellular towers in service in the U.S. now, and another 500,000 or so needed to meet demand (that is largely driven by 5G and demand in underserved rural areas). There seems to be opportunity in this space. Yet, we have heard you say that you do not help land and property owners install new cellular towers and infrastructure on their property or buildings. Why is that?   

A. Moore: Actually, we do help property owners negotiate cellular tower leases once their site is identified as a preferred candidate. Cell site selection starts at the carrier radio frequency engineering department. They are tasked with maintaining continuity of service across their platform. In turn, third-party consultants are hired to find suitable sites, negotiate the lease, perform A & E services, and gain entitlements with the local municipality. We are very well known and therefore, are brought in once a site is identified and represent the owner to lease completion.