LOI Generator
Describe the deal in plain English, or fill in the form. Get a complete, professional Letter of Intent draft, ready to copy, paste, and send.
Fill in the deal details and click Generate LOI to get your draft.
Start by describing the deal in the left panel, then click "Extract deal terms" to populate the form.
Station CRM tracks the deals before the LOI, retail closings, ownership changes, and 1031 exchange buyers across NYC. See how it works →
What is a letter of intent in commercial real estate?
A letter of intent (LOI) is a non-binding document that outlines the key economic and legal terms of a proposed commercial lease or purchase before the formal contract is drafted. In retail leasing, an LOI typically covers rent, lease term, commencement date, tenant improvement allowance, free rent period, escalation schedule, options to renew, and the parties' identities. It's not a lease, either party can walk away, but a well-drafted LOI dramatically accelerates the lease negotiation by establishing the deal points before attorneys start drafting. In NYC commercial leasing, an LOI can be agreed in days while a formal lease takes weeks or months. Getting the LOI right is where brokers earn their commission, not just in the sourcing. Station CRM's LOI generator uses Groq AI to draft clean, copy-pasteable LOI documents from deal descriptions or structured form input.
LOIs range in formality from a two-paragraph email to a six-page document with exhibits. For straightforward retail leases, a clean one-page LOI that clearly states the agreed terms is usually better than an exhaustive document that tries to preempt every negotiation point. Save the complexity for the lease.
What a retail LOI should include
Parties: Legal names of tenant entity and landlord entity. Not trade names, the actual legal entities that will sign the lease.
Premises: Address and suite/unit, square footage (rentable and usable if different), floor number.
Term: Lease commencement date, rent commencement date (may differ if there's a buildout period), and expiration. Include any option periods.
Rent: Base rent in dollars per SF per year or total monthly/annual, plus annual escalation (fixed percentage or CPI-tied), plus any NNN charges.
TI allowance: Landlord's contribution to buildout, in dollars total or per SF, with any conditions on use and timing.
Free rent: Number of months at no rent (often tied to the buildout period).
Permitted use: The specific type of business the tenant will operate. Important for exclusivity provisions.
Contingencies: Common ones include board approval (for co-op buildings), financing, and satisfactory lease review.
Is an LOI binding?
In most commercial leases, the LOI is explicitly non-binding, it says so in the document. But that doesn't mean it's disposable. Courts have found that parties negotiated in bad faith after signing an LOI, which can create liability. And practically, walking away from a signed LOI without a legitimate reason damages relationships in a market as relationship-driven as NYC commercial real estate.
The non-binding nature does mean either party can change positions as the formal lease is negotiated. Landlords sometimes try to change terms after signing an LOI; tenants do too. The LOI creates moral commitment, not legal obligation. Draft it with that in mind, be specific on the economics you've agreed on, but don't try to resolve every lease interpretation question at the LOI stage.