My Business is Growing…My Office Space Isn’t

A great problem to have and a challenging one to have is a successful business that is growing but out-growing your office space.  A little planning when selecting your office space to rent will save you a lot of time and reduce any potential business interruption.

When considering your next office space, plan for your future growth.  You may want to contemplate an expansion option in your lease.  You must make certain the building you are considering can accommodate your future needs.  Ideally you may be able to have an “option” to expand into immediately adjacent space.  Options for this purpose are convenient but usually come with a requirement to act on the option in a limited amount of time if the landlord has other interested parties.  This means you may have to take possession of the office space sooner than you would have otherwise or waive your option and allow the landlord to lease it to someone else.

Absent the “option” mentioned above, you should make sure the landlord has enough potentially available space in the future to handle your growth needs.  Your expectation for growth and potential size requirements should be addressed in your initial lease.  Although exact lease rate and tenant improvement costs can be virtually impossible to predict, you can at least protect your growing business with the ability to terminate and move to a larger office space that will better suit your business needs.

The building’s capacity and the landlord’s willingness to help your future growth needs can and should be a factor in choosing your next office space to rent.  Having the discussions and negotiations today will save you a lot of down time in the future.

Bell Plaza Press Release

Read the latest press release for Bell Plaza Professional building at:  

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-solutions-real-estate-chooses-bell-plaza-professional-building-1267758906.html

Lease Rates – What’s Important to You?

In my previous blog post I mentioned that understanding the two most common lease rate structures – NNN vs Full Service – are important to understand.  Please consider the following: 

Triple Net (NNN) –  Consider NNN lease rate structures like you would a home mortgage.  By that I mean you may have a mortgage payment every month but that isn’t the only cost you pay to maintain your home is it?  There are property taxes, insurance costs, utility costs, maintenance costs etc.  The real cost of your home is certainly  more than just the mortgage payment — so are Triple Net (NNN) lease rates.  To make a fair comparison between Full Service rates vs NNN rates, add the “extra” costs to the NNN lease rate.  These additional NNN cost for the Northwest Valley range anywhere from $6.00 – $9.00 per square foot, so for purposes of example: 

Triple Net (NNN) lease rate of $15.00 per square foot on 1,000 square feet = $1,250.00/month 

ADD additional net costs – utilities, CAM (maintenance), taxes, insurance etc of at least $6.00 square foot = $500.00/month 

TOTAL ESTIMATED NNN LEASE PAYMENT = $1,750.00/month (conservatively) 

ACTUAL COST PER SQUARE FOOT = $21.00 

Given that Full Service Lease Rates include all of your costs in one payment/cost per square foot,  A $19.00 or $20.00 per square foot Full Service Lease Rate is economically a better a deal for your business.

Triple Net (NNN) vs Full Service Lease Rates

If you have ever leased commercial office space or if you are currently seeking commercial office space to lease, you have no doubt encountered the two most common lease rate calculations of Triple Net (NNN) and Full Service.  The differences can seem subtle but they make a big difference in the actual cost of your office space.

Consider that a Full Service lease rate will include ALL of the expenses in one convenient lease payment while the NNN lease will only included the rent.  It can be quite costly to pay for CAM (Common Area Maintenance) charges, direct utility costs, taxes & insurance costs ON TOP of the lease rate.  Don’t forget to add these costs to a NNN rate – a $15.00/square foot  NNN rate can be a total of $21.00 – $24.00 per square foot in reality.

In my next blog I will give some typical examples of NNN (Triple Net) lease rates and why you need to consider the financial impact to your business before making a decision.

Basic Steps – Beginning the lease negotiation

In this current economic cycle there are clear opportunities for consumers.  New, growing or even downsizing companies can find great value in reduced lease rates.  Simply put, this is a great time to lease office space.

The concern for owners/managers is that prospects not be overly aggressive in their negotiation.  The reality is that there can be significant cost factors that impact an owners ability to do make a deal.  This is why information is the key. Owners need to fully understand all the needs of any prospect.  They need to fully communicate their ability fulfill all of their potential customers needs.  It is reasonable for a prospective tenant to ask for the best deal they think they can get but it is prudent for owners to quickly determine whether they can meet the expectation and communicate it early in the leasing process.

For Tenants:

1. Make sure to understand the owner’s rate structure – Full Service, NNN (triple net), Modified Gross etc.
2. Understand the owner’s tenant improvement cost – is enough being allowed to accomplish your build out?
3. If there is an overage in tenant improvement cost, how will it be handled?  Will the owner amortize any overage or will you have to pay it up front?
4. Make sure to understand how CAM or expense pass through costs are calculated and how they are billed – annually, monthly quarterly?
5. Lastly, while you may have a certain price in mind, the owner has to calculate the tenant improvement costs, operating costs and leasing commissions in their rate offer.  If the price is higher than you desired/expected, it is reasonable to ask to review those costs.  There may be an area to compromise to achieve your rate expectation.

For Owners/Managers:

1. Be accommodating and up front with your prospect.  Whether they have representation by a broker or not, prospects seem to assume there is some “smoke and mirrors” in the information they receive.
2. Be willing to share your analysis of the deal with the prospect.
3. Tighten up tenant improvement costs.  Make sure your contractors are giving you the best possible pricing.
4. Know the bottom line you are willing to net in a deal and don’t be surprised if you get there in this market.
5. Last but not least – be creative.  There are lots of ways to structure a deal.  Know your prospect’s needs and drive all of your decisions toward that end.

In closing, my belief has always been service and dedication to your customers and prospects will win you deals more often than not.   There is no reason for anyone to get “hurt” in a deal.  Even though the market is tough today and prospects and/or their brokers may reach pretty deep, both sides are most likely developing a business relationship that is going to last a while…..well beyond the current market cycle.

Greg Herzner

Commercial Tenants Need Information

I have often said to colleagues in the commercial real estate profession and to a number of business networking groups that my potential future customers are wide and varied so I have no single medium with which to communicate with them.  Additionally, the customer I am looking for is in the business of “running their business” and not always considering the location or cost of their current office space.  In many cases, even if they are thinking about it, they may be in a lease obligation that has another year or more and therefore it is not a pressing issue.

Businesses that lease office space simply view that cost as a predetermined expense for a set period of time.  While this is true, it is prudent for any business to give themselves as much time as possible to consider all the options available to them.  Especially in the current market – there are great deals for commercial office space.  As any other cycle in the economy, it will come to an end eventually.  Now may be the time for businesses to lock in as great a rate as they can for a longer period of time.

There are a lot of resources but each business must choose what works for them.  Below are a few resources:

• Contact a local Commercial Brokerage – I.E. Colliers International – or someone you have worked with in the past
• Contact management of a building you are familiar with – perhaps a location in your existing geographical area
• Search web resources such as www.loopnet.com, www.costar.com , www.cityfeet.com, www.craigslist.com

Any business should be as specific as possible as to what they are searching for.  This will narrow the field of options.  Consider location, access to freeways, surrounding amenities and price.  Make sure to understand the pricing structure – Full Service, Modified Gross, Triple Net (NNN) – and how they are calculated.  The most common pricing structures will be discussed in separate post.

Finally, it is important to be realistic.  While the market is certainly a benefit to tenants right now, be mindful that owners & managers have many different costs associated with leasing you a space.  Many of those costs are fixed and unavoidable.  It is not reasonable to enter into a negotiation for a “premium” location or office build-out with the expectation of paying 50% of what it is worth.  Owners will negotiate in this market but each building and each location has its value below which it makes no sense to do the deal.

At Bell Plaza Professional Building in Sun City, AZ, we pride ourselves on going the extra mile to “get the deal done” for any prospect.  We get to our best price after conisdering all factors of the lease and we deliver what and when we say we will.  If you are a business professional seeking office space in the Northwest Valley, we are here to help.  If we can’t satisfy your needs here, I am sure we can help you find the resources you need to find your next office.

Greg Herzner