C C and increased marketing costs associ-ated with backfi lling a space, as well as to keep income fl owing to at min-imum cover the service of any debt they hold on the property. Tenants, on the fl ip side, would generally prefer not to relocate and potentially have to incur moving and site selection costs, hire new employees and invest in new interior build-outs. Silverman of SBH Real Estate con-curs with the notion that collabora-tion and cooperation have prevailed as defi ning characteristics of the landlord-tenant relationship amid COVID-19. But he also believes that local municipalities will play critical roles in the state’s retail recovery. “Going forward, it’s the hope of the industry that cities will be more open-minded about working with de-velopers and tenants in terms of pro-cessing applications, assisting with entitlements and approvals and in general being more open to the users that are keen to expand,” he says. Those positions of mutual depen-dence between tenant and landlord are leading to rent deferral and abate-ment agreements between landlords Image courtesy of Hanley Investment Group Pictured is a Circle K store in Valencia, which has remained open as an essential retailer and retailers across the country, not just in California. In some cases, land-lords have also stepped up their eff orts to market their tenants’ businesses, Image courtesy of SBH Real Estate Pictured is the 22,000-square-foot store of hardware and tool provider Harbor Freight in La Habra, located in Orange County. The store is currently open for business under modifi ed hours. 18 California Centers Magazine | May/June 2020 letting the surrounding communi-ty know who is open for business, at what hours and in what manners they can obtain their products. “Throughout this crisis, everyone has defaulted to a point of human empathy,” says Sigal. “There’s been no posturing; nobody has time for that. We knew our job as a landlord was to immediately reach out to our tenants and let them know we were here to help. We made diff erent decisions depending on which retailers needed our help the most, mainly smaller tenants that didn’t have access to capital markets that larger retailers have.” “The character of communities is made up of small businesses and mer-chants,” Sigal continues. “We don’t want to wake up six months from now and have every block consist of a Ross, CVS and Kroger. The small boutiques and restaurants are what make these neighborhoods unique and interest-ing, and we have to make sure we have a system that protects those small retailers via access to capital.” CC