Cell Tower and Billboard Leases on Commercial Property in Virginia

Along the Interstate 81 corridor through the Shenandoah Valley, in Winchester, Harrisonburg, and Staunton, plenty of commercial parcels carry a cell tower or a billboard under a long-term lease. If you are buying that land, you are buying the lease with it, and those leases come with their own title questions. Here is what to check.

You are buying the lease, not just the land

When a property has a cell tower or a billboard on it, there is almost always a lease between the landowner and the tower or sign company, often running many years with renewal options. Buy the property and you step into the landlord’s side of that lease. The rent is income, which is part of why the parcel is attractive, but the lease also limits what you can do with that piece of the ground for a long time. Reading the lease before closing tells you what you are inheriting.

Is the lease recorded, and what was actually recorded

Sometimes the full lease is recorded, but more often only a short memorandum of lease is on record, with the business terms kept off the public record. We check what is recorded against the actual lease the seller provides, because the recorded document is what binds future owners and what a title examiner sees. If a memorandum is missing or does not match the lease, that gap needs to be closed before closing.

Access and utility easements for the tower or sign

A tower or billboard is useless without a way to reach it and power it, so these leases usually include access easements across your land and utility easements for the electric and fiber lines. Those easements should be recorded and mapped on the survey. We confirm they exist and are properly described, because an access route that was never recorded can become a dispute the day a technician needs to get to the tower. I cover the broader topic in my piece on easements and access.

Billboards add an advertising permit

Billboards carry an extra layer: the outdoor advertising permit. Signs along Virginia highways are regulated, and the permit that lets a billboard stand is tied to that specific structure and location. When the land changes hands, the lease and the sign continue, but it is worth confirming the permit status, because a nonconforming or lapsed sign is a different asset than a fully permitted one. This is diligence we flag on any billboard parcel.

How the lease fits your purchase and your policy

On the closing side, we treat the lease as an encumbrance on your new title, make sure it and its easements are correctly reflected, and account for it in your title coverage. The income, the assignment of the lease, and any tenant notices are handled as part of the deal. The general mechanics of leasing land you own are the same ones I describe in my piece on ground leases and leasehold title insurance, and they drive the much larger solar land leases appearing across Southside Virginia. Our commercial services cover parcels with towers, billboards, and other long-term leases across the Valley and the rest of Virginia.

Common questions

If I buy land with a cell tower, do I take over the lease?

Yes. The lease runs with the land, so you become the landlord and collect the rent, but you are also bound by its terms and any renewal options for the rest of the lease.

How do I know what the lease actually says?

We review the full lease the seller provides and compare it to what is recorded. Often only a memorandum of lease is on record, so we make sure the recorded document matches the real terms before closing.

What easements come with a tower or billboard lease?

Usually access easements to reach the structure and utility easements for power and data. They should be recorded and shown on the survey, and we confirm they are correctly described.

Does a billboard need anything besides the lease?

Yes, an outdoor advertising permit tied to that sign and location. We flag the permit status, because a lapsed or nonconforming sign is worth less than a fully permitted one.