Developers may provide an additional “tenant improvement allowance” (“TIA”) to help the tenant finish building out the space. (Meaning the developer needs to get a high enough rent to pay the cost of leasing on top of the base cost of building the space — i.e. Leasing more is often not good for cash flow that year.) Together, tenant improvements, lease term, and option value mean that sometimes leasing the space incurs more direct costs (and forgone opportunities) than you’ll get back in rent any time soon, especially when multiplied by the risk the tenant will fail.