New Spin on Rent

Variable rent rates are hard to come by, but a store in Mt. Airy, Pa., has managed to negotiate a unique deal. Beginning next month, Philly Electric Wheels, the only store in the Philadelphia area dedicated to the sale of electric bikes, will pay rolling rent prices based on the price of crude oil.

Store owner Afshin Kaighobady reports that sales of electric bikes spike as the cost of gasoline rises. As he gets set to embark on his second year in business, he re-negotiated terms with his landlord based on the shared assumption that the trend will continue. Monthly rent on the 550-sq.-ft. storefront will be pegged to a baseline of $80 per barrel, and will be recalibrated up or down along with the price of crude. If the recent past is precedent, the rent would range from $625 to $1,575, plus triple net and warehouse facilities.

Kaighobady says it costs about a penny a mile to ride an electric bicycle; riders can go up to 20 mph and as far as 25 miles on a single full charge from an ordinary wall socket.

Building owner Pam Rogow believes the cost of crude oil “will continue to rise and we’ve got to lower the temperature of the planet.” Her building is morphing into what Rogow describes as a “modest showcase of green services, systems and synergy.” That goes a long way toward explaining her willingness to spin such a unique rent package.