What is a CAM charge?

CAM stands for ''common area maintenance" and describes the expenses associated with maintaining spaces that tenants share in a commercial property. Consequently, CAM charges describe the practice of billing tenants for the landlord's cost of maintaining common areas. CAM is also synonymous with expense recoveries. What costs are in CAM charges?

What does Cam mean in real estate?

What does CAM in real estate mean? CAM stands for common area maintenance, and CAM charges often appear in commercial leases for spaces in multi-tenant business parks. They are monthly fees that cover the costs of various maintenance needs for the building and/or parking lot.

How much does Cam cost per square foot?

In most cases, CAM estimates are divided proportionally to every tenant in a given building based on the building’s overall square footage. Say that a commercial real estate property has annual CAM expenses of $45,000. The total building square footage is 10,000 ft.². Therefore, the CAM charge per square foot is $4.50.

Are CAM charges included in a commercial lease?

In many commercial leases, the CAM (common area maintenance) charges are included. This means that the tenant leasing the property is responsible for the payment of costs associated with the upkeep and maintenance of services and areas they or their customer use but also share with other tenants of that property.