Verizon wants to put a 200' monopole on my property
by Stephanie
(Hartwood, VA)
I live in a suburb of Washington, DC - Stafford County to be more specific. While I live in the western part of the county that is not as developed as the eastern, the county has been experiencing 6% annual population growth and there is a major highway (30- 40,000+ vehicles) per day within 2 miles of the proposed tower. Within 5 miles of the proposed pole, the county is has designated a "high density redevelopment plan" for the county along the same highway corridor. In other words, a lot more residential and business development.
Verizon has approached me about putting a 200' monopole on my property. The Land Acquisition Specialist has said my property is ground zero for where they want to put a tower to address existing issues of poor coverage/dropped calls. I also have the infrastructure (power, Verizon Fiber, access road) already in place which would save them a lot of money in the installation vs my neighbors.
The initial offer is $1,100 per month for a 25 year lease which I feel is extremely low. I know that's their job to low-ball me and I'm not having any part of that. What would be a realistic number to throw back at them? I was more along the lines of $2,000 minimum.
Comments for Verizon wants to put a 200' monopole on my property
No, we are in the initial stages right now. I will be meeting with the Land Acquisition Rep in a week. I am going to "play dumb" for now. I am just doing my homework just to get an idea of what to expect and to see if the money is worth having an ugly 200 ft tower on my property. My property is their first choice because I have power, phone fiber and access already in place. My neighbors do not.
Oct 10, 2014 Rating
How much to ask for?? by: Anonymous
When La Cellular came to me in 1988, they offered me 750 per month and an annual increase tied to the cost of living index.
I counter offered them 1500 per month and 6% annual increase. This worked for around 8 years until ATT took over and via a third party consultant,said they wanted a discount or de-commission would occur. At the time, there was no accurate information, and no one to trust. So the company got me to lower the 6% to 3% and rent discount 200 per month. The odd thing was the Consulting company wanted to "buy" my lease after all this de commission talk. What?? Today, Sprint is on board. I get $2,200 from each. These rents are low for my area. they are in a very high density Los Angeles Freeway area that has over 500,000 cars passing daily. not counting surface streets.
Also, note you may get a supplemental property tax for the tower improvement, make sure the lease covers the increase. I send a request every year, (in October), to ATT for the additional $1,000 for their site.
*) Monthly payments, no lump sum. Kills lease value to lease buyers. Around 10 companies today.
*) No first right of refusal if you decide to sell. Kills lease value.
*) annual increases, not once every 5 years.
*) % Share in new carrier brought to site
Offered around $120,000 for the site. Today I have been offered almost $1 million. They use an annual multiplier of between 12-14 time to "buy out lease your position. These sites are the carriers assets. search ATT sells tower to Crown castle. And Verizon looking to sell sites as well. The Increase % and rent make a big deal if you sell.
Today, I have come to the conclusion that it was a scare tactic and they would never have shut the tower down. I have not collected $154,000 since the discount.
Good news, ATT lease ends in around a little over 36 months.
They will counter, $1,500 is a good start.
Oct 10, 2014 Rating
Get the Lease Exhibits yet? by: Tower Genius
Stephanie have they provided you with drawings yet? We wouldn't say that Verizon is low balling you. The rent the offered is low but we've seen offers recently less than $500. They must be have a contest or something. You don't want to start throwing around numbers until you know they are committed to your location and not going to lease from your neighbor just because you pushed them too hard.
Kevin Donohue give some interesting perspective about what the wireless industry used to be like and what it has evolved into in this brief audio video
