Answers
Dec 19, 2024 - 04:00 AM
Hello, thank you for posting this question. Congrats on being approached to lease your property for a WISP tower.
While WISP leases can be lucrative, I have some strong concerns with a lifetime lease with a WISP.
1. How will you enforce the removal of the tower in the event they stop using it? How will you even know?
2. A lifetime lease, while great for the WISP, is bad for the landowner. Generally, lifetime leases are offered because they are cheaper over time than a monthly rent lease.
3. A lifetime is a mighty long time. If you plan on selling the property in the near term, it likely doesn't matter provided buyers aren't freaked out by having a tower on the property that doesn't produce income.
4. This being Pennsylvania, towers are treated as real property and taxed as such. Typically, the WISP should be required to pay for ANY increase in real or personal property taxes attributable to the tower/improvements. If the WISP is unable or unwilling to do so, you could be stuck with additional taxes for the lifetime of the tower.
In terms of a fair lump sum payment, there is no established rule of thumb for rural WISP tower lifetime lease payments. However, assuming there is no zoning in the area and there are other similar parcels nearby, the fair market value is what your neighbor would likely accept. You may be better off having the tower on your property and getting the lump sum payment as opposed to having to look at the tower nearby and not getting anything. If there is zoning or there aren't similar parcels nearby or both, the fair market value could range widely depending upon the location. In that case, it will depend upon what the service area is for the tower and how many potential subscribers are in the area. If this is a really rural area, the WISP simply won't offer much.
I hope this helps, even though I couldn't give you a direct $ amount. We can, of course, review your site location exactly for a fee and tell you what we think it is worth. But it's not likely worth paying us to review this unless there is zoning or you have a unique parcel.
Ken
Jan 02, 2025 - 11:42 AM
However, one has to wonder what happens when the grant money dries up. These are presumably areas where development of infrastructure is not economically viable on its own. Alternatively, what happens if satellite technology advances such that these really rural sites aren't financially justified? What assurance does the landowner have that the tower owner will remove it?
As to what is fair and reasonable, it is highly situation dependent. I would advise against a "profit" share; there is no good way to verify what profits are. Ultimately, if there are many other alternative properties nearby, what is reasonable is really more based upon what you need/want to take on the risk.
Sorry that my answer is pessimistic; I have observed firsthand where a national provider went under and left their equipment on many building owners rooftops. (look up Metricom)
If you do proceed, make sure they are obligated to insure the site for at least $1M general liability and that they will pay all taxes of any kind related to its deployment, specifically including personal or real property taxes.
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