FIND OFFICE SPACE & INDUSTRIAL SPACE FOR RENT, LEASE, OR PURCHASE

HOW WE FIND THE BEST COMMERCIAL SPACE FOR OUR OFFICE AND INDUSTRIAL CLIENTS

Many people think the search for the best commercial office and industrial spaces starts and ends with a visit to an online search tool like Loopnet.com. While these sorts of online marketplaces can be useful for skimming available commercial spaces to lease or purchase they’re really just the beginning. Access to information is vital to sound decision-making. We are always searching for new and innovative ways to deliver value for our clients. Before we can deliver a targeted, comprehensive market survey we need to dig deep and understand the needs of the client. This fact-finding typically starts with an introductory meeting to discuss the client’s real estate objectives and issues.

Here is how that process looks:

A process designed to make real estate projects easy
Let’s explore each of the stages in our typical process for finding office and industrial commercial spaces for our clients.

THE INTRO MEETING

During the intro meeting we are seeking to ask questions and learn more about the client’s commercial real estate situation. If they are leasing a warehouse or office space there may be a need to expand or downsize the footprint. Perhaps the company is merging with another firm and they need to evaluate how much space is really needed in the future. In such cases we recommend completing an office space calculation to get a handle on the true needs before searching for commercial spaces.

Often during the intro meeting we are helping to uncover issues regarding a company’s commercial real estate portfolio. Is the open plan office space no longer fitting the needs of the company? Is there a desire to re-configure the space to improve collaboration and cross-function communication? For our industrial clients these needs could be tied to the opening of a new product line or some other operational change. The point is that we dig deep during the intro meeting step to make certain we understand the needs and objectives.

ANALYZE YOUR OPTIONS

In this stage of the process we are presenting our recommendations based on what we learned in the intro meeting. Depending on the client’s situation and timing this could be a detailed report explaining several options for solving their commercial real estate issues. Here is an example of a report we prepared for an office tenant in Houston that was interested in comparing their options for renewing their office lease or relocating to a new office building. Download the report here. This type of report generally includes an analysis of the local commercial real estate market/sub-market, information on recently negotiated lease comps in the area, and

If you’d prefer we do the hard work for you, Contact us today for a complementary, customized report to jump start your search for the best commercial office, industrial, flex, warehouse, or distribution space.

PREPARING A MARKET SURVEY

Once we have a complete understanding of our office or industrial client’s needs we can begin to survey the market. This process doesn’t mean we spend five minutes generating a boring PDF file. We use our knowledge of the local markets to identify the best properties for consideration. We reach out to all the leasing agents for those properties to verify available lease spaces, obtain rental rates, confirming operating expenses, and collect marketing brochures and floor plans. We will use this as an opportunity to discuss the requirement with our peers in the industry and uncover additional options that may not even be on the market yet. Using this approach we are able to zero in on absolute best commercial spaces on the market and deliver them for our office and industrial clients.

With a targeted market survey of options at hand we will then send the report to our clients using our easy to access online software. This software makes it seamless for our clients to view properties at the office or while driving the market on their mobile phones.

Leasing Market Survey
From here our office and industrial clients are able to quickly and easily request property tours.

TOURING OFFICE & INDUSTRIAL PROPERTIES

The objective during the property tours is to identify the shortlist of office or industrial spaces that will best suit the client’s needs. By doing extensive research and legwork earlier in the process we are able to virtually guarantee that the property tours will yield results. Following a successful property tour we will review next steps with the client and prepare RFP’s to send out. Here is a sample of our standard RFP template we utilize for our clients.

Download our Standard Office RFP here or our Industrial RFP here.

NEGOTIATING THE COMMERCIAL LEASE PROPOSAL

Here is where we really get to put our experience of the commercial real estate market to work for our clients. At Oxford Partners we keep track of every single lease renewal and relocation we negotiate for our office and industrial clients. All of our agents are able to access this database of lease comps to improve their ability to negotiate steep discounts and concessions. We also publish most of our closed deals in case you want to check out some of our results.

View our recently closed leasing and purchase transactions.

Sample Effective Rental Rate Calc

As you can see above, we will provide detailed financial breakdowns of the leasing offers each step of the way. We help our industrial and office clients compare deals to ensure they make the best decision and select the commercial space that will work best for their needs.

FINALIZING THE LEASE & MANAGING OFFICE & INDUSTRIAL CONSTRUCTION

After negotiating the economic terms of the leasing deal we then assist our clients with a detailed review of the draft lease agreement. This review will help highlight key provisions in the lease to be improved in favor of the tenant. Some examples of these provisions include caps on controllable operating expenses, reduction in the holdover provision, restriction or removal of the landlord’s relocation rights, and more.

Download a sample of a redlined lease abstract here.

After signing the lease agreement we recommend our industrial and office clients review our Commercial Move Checklist to stay on track of all the moving parts. We also closely monitor the progress of the necessary construction needed to prepare the commercial space for the tenant’s occupancy. We’ve also written previously about our recommended tips on managing the commercial construction project, and tips for setting up productive cadence meetings for your office & industrial commercial buildouts.

Following the commencement date we will stay in touch with our clients until the next opportunity to assist their commercial real estate needs!