Tower rental rates

[Joe Friday]

I have a prospective client with a class B CP on a 690ft tower. The antenna is a 4 bay ERI HP, is mast mounted at the top of the structure, and it is being fed with 3" line. There is a 100Kw diesel Cummins (Onan) generator available at the site. What are others paying for similar tower situations? We have a quote from the site owner, and the grantee is asking for a way to cross check if the rate is fair.

Thanks,

[PA_TUNE]

As they say in real estate, "location, location, location". It's no different in vertical real estate. Where the tower is located and the number of people it will potentially serve is a huge variable.

[JFM]

Agree with PA_TUNE. The location determines the price.

Not knowing the location, how many people are near by, real estate prices, or any other important detail prevents any accurate assessment of price.

Could range from $500 per month to $50,000 per month.

$500 per month would be out in the middle of no where
$50,000 per month like what WBAI pays in rent in New York City at the Empire State Building

[rich wood]

When looking at rental space think of it as renting square footage in a building. The wind load of the antenna system uses up capacity of the tower, which equates to square footage in a building. So the more capacity one uses the higher the rate should be. It is key to have a tower loading capability available. The original prints may give a clue. A new tower analysis if needed should be paid for by the tenant, even on a speculation basis. The analysis will provide an insight on beefing up the tower to handle the additional loading, if required. This too should be paid by the tenant. Again, if you are renting office space, the tenant is responsible for any improvements they need for their space, or it gets added to the long term monthly rate.

[Shiny Knob]

It cost much moneys.

[level42]

I have recently been looking at tower rental rates as part of a bigger upgrade project for one of my groups. I was actually really surprised at how high they were in North Florida.

5 bay ERI at 600 feet on a Crown Castle owned tower that's mostly empty with an 8'x10' floor space in their building, we have our own Air Conditioning and utilities, $3500/month, and it increases every year for 10 years.

3 bay ERI at 350 feet on an American Tower owned site where we have our own 12'x16' building inside their fence: $4000/month with regular increases.

5 bay ERI at 450 feet on a tower owned by a Television station, we have our own 8'x12' building in their fence: $1200/month fixed.

6 bay ERI on a top pole at 475 feet and a 3 bay SWR side mount at 400 feet on an SBA owned tower, we have our own building that is 200 feet from the tower base (not inside their fence, and on land they do not own): $4400/month with yearly increases.

[kkiddkkidd]

Any of the large vertical real estate companies will be the highest rent that you could find. I avoid SBA, AT, CC, et al like the plague. Not to mention all the BS that they make you wade thru to get on the site OR do antenna maintenance.

Other broadcast or privately owned towers are always the best choice if one can be found in the area.

[kkiddkkidd]

Nobody ever wants to talk about how much they pay for stuff for some reason that I've never understood.

Possibly in this case because what my clients pay here in TN is totally irrelevant to what someone else would pay in the next town over. An antenna at some level on a tower here may vary several hundred percent at another site at the same level.

[kcbooboo]

Don't forget that a lot of the ClearChannel / iHeartMedia stations sold their towers, both AM and FM, to Vertical Bridge, and are leasing/renting them back. Not sure how this works on an AM tower where the whole tower is in use as the radiator. Also, where so many are in great wet-ground lowlands, not sure how good they'd be as FM or TV sites.

Bob M.

[Shane]

Have to say the prices I saw from the OP were crazy low compared to my area.

Here's a generalization of what we found:
-other broadcasters aren't always less money. They can be a lot more money.
-"pager" companies are not bad options if they're not too crowded.
-public utility owned towers but it depends. We found one utility reasonably priced and easy to deal with while another utility had prices way higher than the towers! In fact they were so high we were tempted to ask, "are you high?"

Other broadcasters may be more understanding of times when you need to be off so they can work and vice versa. Then again, I don't know that anybody else had to shut down because of our installation work on the public utility tower we eventually leased from.

(Special note: certain "public utilities" in my state are truly public. Their boards of directors are elected by the citizens--even those who don't directly pay for the utility provided. Specifically, this applies to the electric utility and the water, gas, & sewer utility. Telco and Cable here are private and no longer monopolies.)

[Shiny Knob]

Me leave so oldtimers can ragchew. Me not bother you again with dumb stuff.

[BroadcastDoc]

So, in a nutshell, the answer to my question is, the arrogance that other people aren't bright enough to interpret the data they might receive. Sort of figured that already.

Nobody ever wants to talk about how much they pay for stuff for some reason that I've never understood.

Possibly in this case because what my clients pay here in TN is totally irrelevant to what someone else would pay in the next town over. An antenna at some level on a tower here may vary several hundred percent at another site at the same level.

No, the answer to your question is that having that information is like someone owning a home in Arkansas asking you what you pay in property taxes. For your condo. In New York.

Interesting data, but totally useless for your purposes. There is no way to meaningfully interpret that data for your use, other than "I'll probably pay less".

Arrogance is replying to someone providing an honest answer with a snarky response.

[kkiddkkidd]

Yep... You got it. Pure arrogance. Sheese...

And how many days have you been a member of this forum?

So, in a nutshell, the answer to my question is, the arrogance that other people aren't bright enough to interpret the data they might receive. Sort of figured that already.

Nobody ever wants to talk about how much they pay for stuff for some reason that I've never understood.

Possibly in this case because what my clients pay here in TN is totally irrelevant to what someone else would pay in the next town over. An antenna at some level on a tower here may vary several hundred percent at another site at the same level.

[NECRAT]

Yep... You got it. Pure arrogance. Sheese...

And how many days have you been a member of this forum?

It doesn't matter. 1 Day or 100 Days, uncivil behavior will be dealt with...

Back on topic here.

In our case, the lease agreement between us and our tower owner is private. Not for public eyes. I know exactly what we pay for the lease (UHF station with 2 runs of solid line Coax, 4" and 6", top mount and inverted mount antennas, microwave antenna, ENG antenna, associated gear, and physical floor space from American Tower...), but I am not at liberty to discuss it. And you'll find many broadcast tower leasing contracts the same way.

[Joe Friday]

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all who have responded to my query. I have got the info I was looking for when I started this thread.

Thanks to all,

Kevin