Some Things to Consider When You Renew, Expand or Relocate Your Business

Upon doing some research on Tenant Build-Outs I came across some information for businesses to consider. Sources available upon request.

• Carefully analyze how much space your business needs. Leasing too much space can be an expensive mistake, costing thousands of dollars per year. But leasing too little space can also be a serious problem that can impede your business' future growth. You can get a handle on your space needs by engaging an experienced Interior Architect to prepare a space inventory or "Space Program." The Space Program will help identify the space needed by various departments and work groups in your business. You may be able to identify future growth needs and structure your lease to accommodate your expansion needs.
  
• Decide up front on the geographic boundaries for your building search. Important factors to consider include proximity to current as well as future employees. Is visibility or easy highway access important? For instance, do your employees travel often to customer sites or to the airport? Might you consider avoiding inconvenient major roadway construction? Do you receive lots of client visits, where easy directions are important? Do you need a specific city or county mailing address? Is it critical to maintain your current phone number?
  
• What type of building do you need? What kind of image do you want to project to your clients and employees? Do you prefer a traditional multi-story office building with a common lobby entrance and shared restrooms? Or would you prefer a single-story R&D/Flex-type of facility with a separate entrance and perhaps a drive-in door in the back? Traditional office buildings offer space on a Rentable Square Foot ("RSF") basis while utilizing a Common Area Factor ("CAF") of approximately 10% to 15%. This CAF is added to the Usable Square Footage ("USF") of the actual area you occupy and accounts for the square footage of the shared building lobby, hallways and restrooms. In single-story R&D/Flex buildings, since Tenants have their own entrances and typically provide their own restrooms inside their premises, so no CAF is added to the USF.
  
• Does your company have special needs? Examples of special needs include heavy parking, fiber optic telecom connections, redundant or back-up power feeds, back-up emergency generators, exterior signage, above standard electrical power or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (called "HVAC"), high ceilings, dock-high or drive-in doors and/or specialized lab or clean room equipment. It is critical to identify your "must have" requirements early, because these issues may be impossible or very expensive to address later. The absence of just one of these highly variable factors may eliminate an otherwise acceptable building. It's much better to address these issues up front, not months into the process.

I wish you well for all your improvements!

Chris Alley

www.LazerSWFL.com