Five Keys to a Better Office Relocation

Relocating your company can be daunting - operationally and financially. Thus, it's critical to have someone on your side whose business is making real estate work for you: the tenant representative.

When considering your next relocation, regardless of size and scope, look for the following when choosing a tenant representative:

1. Specialization

What types of commercial real estate services does the professional's company offer? For example, multi-national real estate providers often handle both tenant and landlord representation. Be sure the company representing you exclusively represents tenants so there won't be any conflicts of interest when negotiating your lease. Remember too, the importance of regional service, as local firms are hard to beat in the categories of street-level market knowledge and translating complicated lease language.

2. Understanding your business

The best tenant representatives are business consultants that specialize in real estate. More specifically, they specialize in your real estate. During your due diligence, stay alert for signs that the professional is cognizant of your operation. Only the most probing questions will draw out your needs during the planning stages. Therefore, track how they inquire about your business. You want them to understand your budgets, growth projections, employee practices and visitor use of space, for example.

3. Leadership

Look for a tenant representative that can take control of the process at the right times. They need to know how to raise the right issues and questions and at the same time, facilitate a well thought-out decision process. If their suggestions reflect sound business judgment, grounded in experience, then respond to them. You'll want to work with someone who stresses long-term planning, as most corporate relocations should be planned from 6 to 24 months out depending upon your specific circumstance. Real estate is crucial to business, so let those who understand it, lead it.

4. Information and communication

Market information plays a critical role in relocating. What types of amenities are nearby? Is construction planned outside your new business park's entrance? What is the vacancy rate doing in a particular sub-market? Make sure the tenant rep helps you understand the difference between a triple-net and full service lease or how custom upfits are paid for. These are key factors that may sound like jargon at first but will certainly become a part of your vernacular by the time you turn the key to the new office.

5. Experience leasing your type of space

This ties in with understanding your business. Try to work with a tenant rep that knows the specifics of the space you'll need. A broker who has placed more Class A office park tenants may not always be suited to negotiate a biotech lab space lease. Industrial property specialists can most likely make a warehouse lease more seamless than a retail broker. In the end, make sure your broker has enough deal making prowess and market savvy to deliver on the type of space specific to your needs.

Give Every Employee a Room with a View

You see it in magazines, on postcards and if you are one of the chosen few, on Discovery HD Theatre. But how often do you see, or experience, the great outdoors from your office?

It's not very realistic to think a cubicle view should consist of the Grand Tetons or Half Moon Bay but something as simple as an urban park can offer employees a great way to get outside during the day. All too often, the search for office space is centered on man-made amenities and commuting convenience, neglecting the day-to-day pleasures a greenway trail or even a bench in a quiet garden could provide employees.

The push in the last twenty years to suburban office parks has made it easier for tenants to uncover available space for office-seekers looking to provide employees with some natural space. The advantages of access to an actual body of water (not one meant for drainage) or a trail network can be quite plentiful. In addition to providing the workforce with exercise options during and after the workday, a natural setting offers an instant sense of serenity by just stepping outside the lobby door - certainly worth considering after a stressful moment at the office.

Oddly enough, technology can help. With the ubiquitous nature of wireless networking and cellular broadband, employees can find a wooded bench or even a comfortable tree to park themselves on or against while mulling over a PowerPoint.

Even with the popularity of integrating "greenspace" into many mixed-use projects, it's hard to find a true outdoors experience in manufactured turf and overly overt landscape plans. Then again, an au-natural outdoor space isn't an easy requirement to meet. If outdoor space is an important factor in your search for office space, you will more than likely find yourself choosing a location that has a nice balance of both indoor conveniences and authentic outdoor aesthetics.

Creative Car Rental Services at the Office

One of the fastest-growing trends on college campuses today is on its way to your workplace: ZipCar.

ZipCar is a flexible, pay-by-the-hour rental car service that is allowing parents across America to sleep better knowing their new grocery-getter is resting safely in the garage and not in the bushes outside a frat house.

ZipCar and its competitor, FlexCar, strike deals with colleges that allow students to pay a small annual membership fee, usually around $30, for the ability to rent a car for hourly or daily use throughout the year.

Despite the growing popularity on campus, the companies are racing toward an even more coveted trophy: the office landlord. Both company Web sites (zipcar.com and flexcar.com) promote their services as a tenant and corporate amenity, emphasizing how easy it is for office tenants to check out a car during lunch or for workday errands around town. And, most agreements include gas, insurance and maintenance. According to FlexCar's Web site, more than 600 companies, non-profit organizations, colleges and public agencies have customers and employees renting its vehicles.

In one instance, FlexCar provides a van that shuttles employees between a transit rail stop and their corporate office, solving the "last mile problem" that stands out in so many light-rail systems as a barrier to broader usage. The van is also left at the office during the day for employees to check out for hourly use.

Both rental services also promote online scheduling and billing, enabling access from mobile devices and laptops. Additionally, the potential is there for landlords to integrate it into building kiosks or lobby touch-directories.

Along with helping to promote the critical role mass transit plays in sustainability efforts across the country, both ZipCar and FlexCar offer hybrid and other economically fuel efficient vehicles. As long as the trend to live and work in urban areas continues to flourish and landlords aim to provide amenity-rich work environments, it appears both rental services could provide terrific alternatives to taxis, smog-belching buses, airport rental counter lines and of course, the late night call from campus security.