Cell Phone Tower Land Lease

[James C]

I'm not sure if this is the proper fourm or not. I did a search and could not find anything. I was wondering if anyone has had any experience dealing with leasing/selling land to a cell phone company for use to put a tower on. I have two seperate residental pieces that I have in mind. One is land locked (which was deeded to me) and I have no use for it, it is land locked. Any info on this would be helpful. Thanks.

[William Jenkins]

I saw your thread and thought I would offer a little insight into your situation.  For the past 10 years I have developed towers for all of the major carriers on a national level, although predominantly in the Midwest.   

Unfortunately there is a very slim, and I mean slim, chance that you are going to be able to approach a carrier (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Etc.) or a tower company (ATC, Crown, Etc.), detail your property location, and get them interested in leasing the property for a tower.  Unfortunately that is not how they work.  

Before a tower is ever built, a need for coverage has to exist. Even if service is horrible in your particular location, that doesn't always translate into a "need." Carriers, like any other business consider the ROI, current CapEx budget, etc. Assuming that a carrier does need a site in your area they will (1) analyze their coverage need and select a very specific tower location and (2) deploy a real estate team to secure the ground and construct the tower at that specific location. If you do not have a very specific type of property (coverage need exists, meets coverage objectives, able to be zoned/permitted, and you are a willing landlord) you will not be considered.

I certainly don't want to discourage you, but also wanted to give you an idea of what you are up against.