gracefully end lease with good tenant

[Brent Rieman]

Im considering not offering a lease renewal with a good tenant.  The tenant has been in place since before I purchased the building 3 years ago.  They have been great, accommodating, pay ontime and have only caused me a little headache.   You may wonder what sane person would do this.  Well were getting ready to do a large renovation on our house and will need a place to live for 5-6 months.  This is the unit in my building(8units townhouse style) that, 

1- has a lease ending in the timeframe we need,
2-is most desirable unit in the building, its a larger end unit with alot of privacy. 

I have alot been kicking around the idea of turning one of the end units into a short term rental and after we move back into our renovated house, this would the perfect unit to do that with.   I have been very accommodating with the tenant over the years, they have had some health issues and have continually asked for 3 - 6 month lease's.  The conscience in me says dont be a d!$k but on the flip side, this my property, I put myself and my family through tons of stress and late night projects to purchase and own it, and if this it what I need from it why shouldn't I.

[Nate Zachrich]

As long as you understand the risks with removing the tenant: Good tenants aren't easy to come by, there are many upcoming legal challenges to short term rentals etc. It is your building and you can do what you wish. The best practice is to just be honest and upfront. I would give them notice as early as possible (I give at least 30 days notice). Also consider paying for their move, for the cost of a U-Haul you can relieve a lot of animosity and make it less likely they will damage/ steal stuff on the way out.
Please update us on how this goes.