What is a reciprocal easement agreement and how does it affect parking and signage in a commercial plaza?

A reciprocal easement agreement (REA) is an agreement among the owners of adjoining parcels within a commercial plaza or shopping centre setting out shared rights and obligations, most commonly shared parking, access routes between parcels, and often signage rights and common area maintenance responsibilities. Because a plaza is frequently divided into multiple separately owned parcels, such as an anchor store, a bank pad site, and a smaller retail block, an REA is what legally ties those parcels together so customers can park anywhere in the plaza and move freely between stores, rather than each parcel functioning as an isolated island.

Once properly registered on title, an REA runs with the land, binding successive owners of every parcel it covers. Buying one parcel in the plaza means taking on both the benefits, such as shared parking and access, and the burdens, such as maintenance contributions and signage restrictions, the REA imposes. Signage in particular is often tightly controlled under an REA, limiting size, placement, and sometimes even branding visibility for individual parcels.

A buyer purchasing any parcel within a multi-owner plaza should review the REA carefully before closing, since it can materially affect parking availability, signage plans, and ongoing cost obligations tied to shared areas.