Readers of this newsletter understand that in recent years the cost of renovating office space has skyrocketed to over $100 per square-foot for a turnkey buildout.  In order to amortize a turnkey project in 2025, the standard term of lease has increased from five years to today ten years or more.  We have described how only the most stable companies are today able to make this decade long lease commitment.  This has led to a surge of interest in tenants searching for existing spaces that require only simple improvements like carpet and paint with no little or no new construction. So, how do you go about finding space?

Searching for existing space is almost like looking for a needle in a haystack.  This problem is not just one of lagging technology.  Many computer-savvy tenants who are used to searching for everything online quickly find that online listing services do not provide readily available information about the size, location, rental term and layouts of the available space out there. 

Most commercial real estate brokers here in New Jersey subscribe to a proprietary database service known as CoStar, where they can search by multiple criteria to find space. The problem is that many lazy Landlord agents are now holding back much of the information that we need, such as the common practice of listing the asking rent as “withheld”, and listing floorplans that don’t properly denote the existing conditions. 

This is where a tenant advisor can help.  Tenant reps start by searching through each property that fits your criteria to find the asking rent and retrieve the current floor plans to understand how that property might work for you.  Tenant advisors can arrange to get access to space and help you understand the features of each space during the inspection. 

Tenant advisors then help you create a shortlist of properties that meet your parameters and submit to Landlords requests for proposal to have Landlords competing for your tenancy.  By evaluating competing proposals, tenant advisors can help you structure a transaction tailored to meet your needs. 

It costs nothing to hire a tenant advisor as their fees are, in most cases, already structured in the deal.  Do you need help to find the right space at the right price?  If so, why not give us a call to find out why, at Dickstein Real Estate Services, OUR DIFFERENCE ISYOUR ADVANTAGE®.

Regards,

Lawrence Dickstein

Dickstein Real Estate Services

908-704-3500 ext. 11

larry@dicksteinrealestate.com