Existing MultiFamily High Rise-Exclude Occupied Commerical Space

We have an existing 13 Story Downtown Multifamily LEED NC v2009 registered project consisting of 210,000 sf and 200 units which will be gutted. The ground floor has approximately 5 commercial/retail tenants occupying 12,000 sf. The project owner is the (new) building owner. Question: Is it possible to exclude the tenant spaces on the ground floor from building certification and associated credit calculations, in essence drawing the LEED boundary such that the 12,000sf of retail is excluded from the project? Details: No work whatsoever will be performed in the commercial space. The tenants were inherited from the previous owner and are on a multi-year lease. They are not part of the residential portion in any way or its operations and maintenance. Tenants include a convenience store, a fast food sub shop and restaurants. With respect to control, there is a master lease with a local development organization that holds leases with the 5 retail tenants, and this legacy master lease is leaves the building owner with essentially no control/influence over the space. Thank you for your assistant.