A property tour can often be overwhelming. While your broker has done their best to narrow down your search to a few select properties that best meet your needs and criteria, you’ll still need a way to compare each of the properties and decide which is ultimately the best choice for you at this time. Your broker will help guide you through the main highlights of each property, but sometimes the things you pay attention to on these tours aren’t the things you will care about once you are actually a tenant in the building. With that in mind, here are five often-missed factors you may want to take a moment and consider before signing on the dotted line:
Parking
Parking can quickly become a sore spot for many tenants once they move into their new space. Because while guest parking may be abundant, tenant parking may not be. Take a moment when you visit the property in question to examine the tenant parking and get a feel for how full the allotted parking area is. Talk to your broker about what percentage of the building is currently occupied so you’ll know if the available parking will become strained in the future if more tenants are added to the building. You may also want to visit the lot at varying times of day on different days of the week to see if that affects the parking conditions.
Sunlight
A large factor in the health, satisfaction and productivity of your employees is sunlight. Be sure to spend enough time in your potential space at varying times of the day to examine how much light your space will receive. Studies have shown that the more light you have, the more pleasant and productive your space will be.
Common Areas
First impressions are everything in business, which is why taking time to also examine your potential common area space is so important. Many tenants try to cut CAM costs when searching for space as a way to reduce expenditures, however, finding a building with an attractive and well-maintained common area can be of great benefit to your company as a way to improve your brand image and cultivate a healthy working environment for your employees. It is also beneficial to be aware that the CAM fees for these areas are not typically a profit center for the landlord, most of whom simply pass along the cost of maintaining the property to the tenants without any mark-up whatsoever. In the long run, sharing the costs of common area amenities with other tenants in the same building can often save you money.
Co-Tenants
It’s happened more than once, you find your dream space, sign a lease, move in, and find out that you simply cannot stand the other tenants in the building. Bad co-tenants can ruin the best of spaces, so it’s important to not only get to know your potential space, but also the surrounding spaces as well. Is there a noisy tenant next door, or one that creates unpleasant smells and odors that may intrude on the peace and calm of your new space? Be sure to take a moment and find out before it’s too late.
The Surrounding Area
Lastly, your space is only as good as it’s surrounding environment. Test out the ingress and egress from your potential site at varying times of day. Be sure you have access to good roads and possibly public transportation for the benefit of your employees with ample retail services nearby to meet their needs.
Hopefully with these five tips, in addition to the guidance of your broker, you’ll be able to choose your dream space and sign on the dotted line with confidence!
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