Suddenly rewriting the 4k words that I have right now for my thesis doesn't sound too bad! Also, what's a TI? I'm guessing you're not talking about Texas Instruments. I just gave a small progress presentation. Made myself this fancy graphic:
TI = "Tenant Improvement" or "Tenant Improvement Allowance." That's the money you get to turn the building that is into the building you want it to be. $25/sf gets you new carpet and paint, assuming you have a "warm shell" (HVAC in, electrical in). $45-70/sf gets you walls and plumbing, assuming you have a warm shell. Cold shell? As in, no grid, no HVAC, bathrooms needing to brought up to code, like what we're talking about with this building? $100-$140/sf. In short, we went from "Yeah, we could see investing $94k in making our building suit your needs" to "as is, no guarantees, you're here for 10 years and we're not at all interested in ever letting you out or making the space more attractive to you."
Getting in to a relationship with a landlord as a tenant is important on both a financial and emotional level. You have to potentially be in a relationship with these people for 10 years. That's a long time to be linked to someone that doesn't deliver on the very first promises they put forth. Doesn't bode well for their character. You may want to "break up" with them now, while you still can, right?
Fuckin' A, dood. No doubt. Funny thing is the landlord is in an allied industry so the fact that he's being a turbo-douche is kind of... not good. It's not like bad blood you can just laugh off and walk away from. It's "we're in the same professional sphere in the same market and you shouldn't do this" stuff.
There's got to be a better building than this b.s.. I think they're trying to make the deal bad so that they don't have to have you as a tenant (for whatever reason).