Besides claiming that you are a young, growing, and cash strapped business that the landlord should help out of the goodness of his heart, I always found a few methods helpful.

1. The first one was to discuss the other spaces you are looking at using the real financial terms with the broker and or the landlord. Once they realize you might go elsewhere, they usually will attempt to cut to the chase and put their best foot forward.

2. The next technique is to attempt to phase your growth into the space. For example if the space is 2,500 square feet, you begin with the justification that you need 1,500 square feet now, but will need the 2,500 square feet a year from now. If you are signing a 3-5 year lease, the landlord should be willing to let you pay as you go which will strongly help the economics of what you are trying to accomplish.

3. Negotiate the rent as far as the landlord will move and then move on to concessions like free rent or tenant improvements.

I’m sure most people are already using something like Google Reader to track their favorite blog feeds.  If you’re not the I suggest you give it a try, especially if you read a few blogs.  We’re hoping that the Rofo Space Need Feed gives you one more reason to start tracking feeds.

When businesses are searching for commercial space they come to Rofo and post exactly what kind of commercial space they are looking for.  Then landlords and brokers make proposals and the tenant accepts what they like. The Rofo Space Need Feed tracks all these space needs and allows you to subscribe to feeds in different areas.  After subscribing, your reader will show an update every time a new Space Need is posted.

The Space Need Feeds cover the main regions in California where Rofo receives a substantial amount of space needs.  We will be rolling out feeds in new cities when we start to see more getting posted.  Here is a list of the feeds we have rolled out:

San Diego Area Commercial Space Needs

Los Angeles Area Commercial Space Needs

South Bay Commercial Space Needs (San Jose, Santa Clara, Cupertino, Sunnyvale etc.)

Sacramento Area Commercial Space Needs

Peninsula Commercial Space Needs (Palo Alto, San Mateo, Redwood City etc.)

Orange County Commercial Space Needs

North Bay Commercial Space Needs (Santa Rosa, Petaluma, San Rafael etc.)

East Bay Commercial Space Needs (Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Fremont etc.)

So subscribe today and easily stay up to date with the market.  We’ll be rolling out new feeds in the future if your area isn’t up there yet.

Rent Types:

1. NNN: Tenant is responsible for Property Tax, Insurance, Common Area, Maintenance, Utilities, and Janitorial

2. Industrial Gross: Tenant pays Utilities and Janitorial

3. Modified Gross: Tenant pays for Janitorial

4. Full Service: Tenant is only responsible for increases over the Base Year Expenses

Rent and Build out Issues

5. Escalations: The amount of your rent increases year to year. The most common increase types of CPI (Consumer Price Index) or a percentage (3-5%)

6. Tenant Improvements (TI’s): The interior improvements within the space that is spent prior to your occupancy, less Fixtures, Furniture, and Equipment.

7. Amortization: Any costs that a landlord pays for and then passes through to the tenant over the period of the lease. For example, a business might need 3 extra office constructed at a cost of $15,000. The landlord might offer to amortize the cost of these improvements into the rental payments a company make each month.

8. Plug and Play: The space will come furnished and wired.

9. Turnkey - Referring to an owner making a property ready for a tenant to begin business by having the tenant furnish only furniture, phone and inventory, if any. Turnkey tenant improvements are provided at the landlord’s expense according to plans and specifications previously agreed upon by the parties.

10. Work Letter: Specifications for tenant improvements usually attached to a lease and/or letter of intent. The work letter provides the basis for working drawings and contractor pricing and may allocate costs between the parties.

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Bill from LazarsEarlyMusic.com, one of the largest dealers of Baroque era musical instruments, sits down with Rofo to talk about his quest for the perfect San Jose and Santa Clara area office space.  He eventually found it with the help of Rofo and commercial real estate broker, Jana Gluckman, from Ritchie Commercial. Bill also gives some great tips about looking for office space and finding the right broker. He also chose to buy his new commercial space instead of leasing and talks about that decision.  Bill’s been operating Lazar’s Early Music for 15 years after leaving the bio tech sector.

You mean to tell me it’s not just Location, Location, Location?

Below we will reflect on how most companies make the decision about where to locate the office.

1. Location, Location, Location: Not only a real estate adage, but a fact of life. The location of the office is usually described as the either the biggest benefit or biggest negative.
2. Commute Patterns: Take a preliminary survey of your companies thoughts on their current commutes and use Rofo’s tool to determine how the new office location might effect their commute pattern.

3. Amenities: What restaurants and coffee shops are available nearby? Being in an isolated office park can be a very bad situation for the comfort of employees. At times in cannot be helped, but being in close proximity to the amenities employees use during their lunch break can be a huge recruiting advantage. Please see our Rofo Amenities tool to look for nearby amenities as you search for space.

4. Safety: What is the neighborhood like late in the evening? Have there been office or car break ins in the neighborhood recently? Would a female employee feel comfortable walking to their car or public transportation after working late on a project? All of these issues should be considered when considering your next location.

5. Layout of the Space: Is the layout of the space desirable. Is there good separation between the lobby and the work space? Is there separation between the kitchen and the work space so food smells don’t permeate the office. Is there good natural light?
6. Image of the Building: The question depends on how you are trying to present yourself to your clients and potential employees. If you are a law firm that helps with class action suits, it might not make sense to have the top floor of the nicest building in town. If you are the high powered corporate firm, it might be absolutely necessary to display that image. The location, layout, and feel of your building and space will leave an impression on your visitors and should be considered in your decision making process.
7. Parking/Public Transportation: The proximity to public transportation and affordable and convenient parking are extremely important. Many of your key employees might need quick access to transportation as they visit clients while others need convenient and affordable ways to get to the office. The more transportation options the better.
8. Recruiting: Will your location and building aid or hamper you in your recruiting efforts for top talent. How will the location effect current employees?
9. Expansion: Will your location allow for easy expansion? Is there space available nearby that can work if there is not space within your building?
10. Building Ownership & Maintenance: Is the ownership local? Is the HVAC system consistently broken? Your landlords involvement and attitude and responsiveness towards tenant repairs should be a critical element of your building decision.

1. How active is the broker in the marketplace?

If the broker you hire is very active in San Jose, but never works in Oakland, it would be a mistake to work with them. They might be worth hiring if they can prove to you that they have the ability to find the tough to find spaces and get information on the most recent transaction. If they can pass both of these hurdles and seem qualified, an out of town broker can provide the right level of service. If not, ask them for a referral to a local broker.

2. How long have they been in the business?

Less experienced brokers might work very diligently but you are more exposed to common mistakes. Veterans of the industry can quickly make you aware of common mistakes and help you avoid them. A good rule of thumb is within 3 years, a broker has learned all the necessary tricks of the trade.

3. References?

Will the broker provide some contact information for recent clients who can speak to their diligence throughout the process? Questions you ask these references should be specific based on negotiating skills and time spent on the process.

4. Do you have a specialization?

Many brokers specialize in types of firms or industries.  If you can find the broker who specializes in your industry, you might get a leg up in the negotiation. Specialized brokers might have some other clients who are going through the process at the same time and excess information helps throughout the process.

5. Do you have any conflicts of interest?

Some brokers might work for many landlords throughout the city. If they do, at times their fiduciary duty is challenged when they represent both parties. Most brokers are ethical and this would not create a bad situation, but exceptions do exist.

Google makes a lot of money.  They earned $1.97 Billion last quarter.  That’s a lot of money.  So how does this relate to commercial real estate?  Well many online commercial real estate companies and regular commercial brokerages spend a lot of money online advertising with Google.  We do the same at Rofo.

Advertising with Google can be done two ways, either advertise on the Google search results page or in their content network (any site with adsense and gmail).  Below you can see the highlighted paid advertising section of the Google search engine results page (SERP) for the ‘Los Angeles Office Space’ search query.  The three slots on the top of the page are the most expensive.  The side bar is priced by position on the page, with the top spots being the most costly.

So how much does it cost to buy this type of advertising for “Los Angeles Office Space” searches?  It costs nothing to display the ad, but if your ad gets clicked then Google starts raking in the dough.  The average cost per click (CPC) for the keyword “Los Angeles Office Space” is $10.72.  Basically every time someone clicks on an ad served for “Los Angeles Office Space” it costs the advertiser an average of $10.72.  You can research keyword CPC’s yourself with the Google Keyword Tool.

Below is a snap shot of the data the Google Keyword Tool helps you explore.  It shows the keyword searched, what you will pay per click, the local search volume for the term, the global search volume and the recent search trends.  It looks like searches related to Los Angeles Office Space increased in 2009, hopefully a good sign for the economy, or maybe just for Google.

And this is just a click, it doesn’t guaranty that this customer will stay on your site, they might leave immediately.  This is where the second part of online advertising comes in, having good landing pages!

A landing page is where a searcher ends up after clicking your add.  Landing pages are a subject all their own, so I won’t go into much detail.  Basically you want your landing page to reflect the ad that led to it and have good calls to action.  A good call to action would be bright visible button with some text that helps the customer realize what to do after they landed on the page.  Check out this landing page article to learn more.

It would be great to hear from any brokers or landlords who have tried Google Adwords for themselves and what they thought of the experience.  Let us know in the comments.

Showing 1 - 10 of 40 listings

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Direct Lease

24th at Camelback - Suite 5002375 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix, 85016

150 sqft

$480 FS

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Two Renaissance - Suite 140040 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, 85004

150 sqft

$480 FS

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Esplanade IV - Suite 4502575 East Camelback, Phoenix, 85016

150 sqft

$480 FS

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Esplanade I - Suites 450 & 9502425 East Camelback Road, Phoenix, 85016

150 sqft

$480 FS

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Paradise Valley Center - Suite 303111811 North Tatum Boulevard, Phoenix, 85028

150 sqft

$480 FS

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Denver Business Journal - by Paula Moore

Grubb & Ellis Co. predicted Friday that the Denver area’s commercial real estate market will start a “slow recovery” in 2010, ahead of the national commercial market that’s expected to bounce back in 2011.

Based in Los Angeles, publicly traded Grubb & Ellis (NYSE: GBE) is one of the country’s — and metro Denver’s — largest commercial real estate brokerage firms.

While there will be leasing activity in the metro area this year, commercial property vacancy rates will likely stay flat because most tenants will move laterally to take advantage of attractive lease rates and landlord concessions, according to the G&E report.

The Denver-area real estate investment market is expected to remain generally flat in 2010, but buyers with cash are expected to purchase lower-priced properties, including distressed assets.

Metro Denver ranked 10th on G&E’s “Investment Opportunity Monitor” for 2010-2014, based on property, economic and demographic variables. Only Texas cities such as Houston and Austin; California markets like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Orange County; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore.; and Raleigh-Durham, N.C., are expected to do better than the Denver area when it comes to commercial real estate investment.

“Leasing activity will certainly increase, and there will continue to be a large quantity of properties attractively priced for buyers with cash,” Mark Ballenger, executive vice president and managing director of G&E’s Denver operation, said in a statement.

Bob Back, G&E’s chief economist, thinks that while the national economy has started a “slow and cautious” recovery, the labor market won’t turn around until the second half of this year, since it often lags the broader economy.

“Because commercial real estate lags the labor market, [the national commercial real estate market] still has a ways to go before reaching its own low point,” Bach said in a statement.

Other high points of G&E’s Denver forecast:

• Most commercial properties sold this year will be “come in the form of note sales and other non-recorded transactions.”

• Highly leveraged, lender-held buildings will get new owners, removing a major impediment to the recovery of the real estate investment market.

• Many larger office-building tenants will try to capitalize on lower rents and concessions offered by landlords at Class A and B properties, causing Class C properties to struggle to keep tenants.

• Metro Denver’s industrial real estate market is expected to see “positive growth and activity in 2010” when it comes to leasing, with renewable energy companies likely being responsible for most of that activity.

• Retail leasing in the metro area could see a moderate increase in activity this year, with grocery-anchored shopping centers as well as urban sites staying “fairly stable.” Most of that activity will come from educational and professional service businesses, taking advantage of lower asking rents.

• Job growth will be key to improvement in the local apartment market. (Even though apartment properties include residences, they are considered commercial real estate because they’re largely owned by companies or investors who don’t live there.)

Posted via email from Find Office Space