Understanding Office Lease Rates in Kansas City

Several different factors can influence rental rates, and it is important to have a working knowledge of how rental rates are determined.  Here are just a few of the elements that affect rental rates, as seen in the article Understanding Rental Rates:

  • The lease term
  • Size of the property
  • Views
  • Storage
  • Proximity to other locations
  • The current market/economy

Market conditions particularly affect rental rates, which tend to increase.  Once you sign your lease, the rate for your lease is fixed for the duration of that term.  Since there are so many pieces to a total rental rate and several different ways to quote rents, it can sometimes be hard to understand what people are talking about when discussing leasing rates.

Usually the quoted rate is based on the rent per square foot.  These prices are typically on a monthly basis, but in some locations (i.e. San Francisco) they are quoted on an annual basis.  The math is simple, but it can be a bit confusing to see one rate quoted as $36.00 per square foot (annual rate) versus $3.00 per square foot (monthly rate).  Urban office lease rates are often calculated on an annual basis, while industrial and retail spaces are typically advertised as monthly rates.  It is important to be aware of these differences as you compare rental rates for different spaces.

If you are interested in learning more about office suites for rent in Overland Park, give a commercial real estate broker in Overland Park a call at 913-685-4100!

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5 Steps to Leasing a Good Commercial Office Space in Overland Park

Whether you need more room for your business or a better location, the current market is a good time to find and negotiate for a new business space.  In case you have not embarked on this search in a while, here are a few initial steps, as seen in the Forbes article How to Lease Commercial Real Estate Space: Part I, to take care of when beginning your quest for the perfect office space

  1. Find two or three potential options.  Do not stop looking for spaces until you have at least two or three that you know could work.  Creating options for yourself will pay dividends later.
  2. Wait to sign the lease.  Do not sign a lease until you have established exactly what the expenses will be, including maintenance.
  3. Do not get attached.  Avoid emotional attachment until you get to a point where you have terms you can live with.  You should only be considering whether customers or clients will be excited about the location, and not discarding your business sense for your feelings about a space.
  4. Get a copy of the lease.  Ask for a pro forma copy of the lease as soon as you can get it.  Read it carefully—each commercial lease is unique.
  5. Compare.  Create a comparables analysis in a spreadsheet that will allow you to look at the details of each potential space side by side.  Include categories such as square footage, unit lease price, lease term, added expenses, and any other pros and cons.

Approaching the search in a systematic and detached way will help you make the most logical decision for your business.

Interested in office space in Kansas?  Give a commercial real estate broker in Overland Park a call today at 913-685-4100!

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Six Steps to Finding the Best Deal on Kansas City Office Space: Part III

Though the economy is less than ideal, this type of market can be excellent for finding good deals on commercial real estate.  The process of finding commercial real estate might be a rare occurrence in the business lifetimes of many companies.  But this does not mean you cannot become a pro.  Here are a few final steps for finding the best deal for your business, as suggested in the article 7 Steps to a Hot Commercial Real Estate Deal:

#5 Study the Area

One great way to assess a piece of commercial property is to study the neighborhood it is located in.  You can do this by talking to other business owners in the area, going to open houses, and looking for vacancies.

#6 Use All Resources

Be adaptable in your search for deals.  Read classified ads, use the internet, and even consider hiring a real estate expert to help you seek out the best deals.

Remember that finding and evaluating commercial real estate is about more than assessing neighborhoods, finding the best listing price, or attracting landlords most willing to make a deal.  The bottom line is being able to communicate, to build good relationships and rapport with landlords so they are willing to work out the best deal with you.

If your business is interested in finding a good deal on a commercial space for lease in Kansas City, give a DDI Commercial real estate broker in Kansas City a call at 913-685-4100!

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Six Tips for Finding the Best Deal for a Kansas City Office Space: Part II

The commercial real estate market can be difficult to navigate, but you can prepare yourself to become a pro.  Check out these tips for finding the best commercial real estate deals, as seen in the article 7 Steps to a Hot Commercial Real Estate Deal:

#3 Be Ready To Walk

This goes hand in hand with having a plan.  Real estate pros always have an exit strategy—the best deals are ones they know they can walk away from.  Be on the lookout for damages that need repairs, learn to assess risks, and make sure you are always calculating whether a space fits in your budget.

#4 Find the Motivated Landlords

You are not the only one looking for a space; landlords are often looking for tenants.  Your job is to find these landlords, particularly the ones who are ready to lease to you below market value.  The best deals are often accompanied by a motivated seller—someone with a reason to lease to you at a low rate.  Motivated landlords are usually more willing to negotiate.

Bring your business smarts to the table when you start looking for commercial property.  Taking the time to develop a sharp eye and savvy negotiation skills can help save your business money in the long run and ensure you are satisfied in your new commercial space.

Is your business on the hunt for commercial realty in Kansas City?  Give us a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available affordable office space in Kansas City!

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Six Tips for Finding the Best Deal for a Kansas City Office Space

Finding commercial real estate is a process, and it requires plenty of business smarts to find good, affordable spaces.  But how do you determine what commercial real estate is going to be the best for your business?  What is the difference between a great deal and financial losses waiting to happen?  Here are a few tips to help you thoroughly evaluate your commercial real estate options, as suggested in the article, 7 Steps to a Hot Commercial Real Estate Deal:

#1 Have a Plan

Have some criteria for a space in mind and an idea of what you are willing to put forth before you even begin looking.  Consider the following issues:

  • How much space your business will need
  • The kind of space you will need and any specific amenities that must be included
  • The amount that your business can budget to pay for a space
  • Whether you need to find other businesses to share a space with

Be ready to walk away from negotiations of a space does not meet your requirements.

#2 Learn How to Evaluate Like an Insider

In order to really navigate the world of commercial real estate, you need to learn what the professional real estate hunters know.  A lot of people are not aware of the differences between leasing a commercial space and leasing a residential space.  For instance, commercial property involves a bigger cash flow and the income on a space corresponds directly to its usable square footage.  The lease terms for commercial real estate spaces also tend to be longer than those of residential leases.  Finally, you need to know that commercial property lenders typically want you to be able pay at least a 30% deposit upfront, so plan for that when you are making your budget.

Preparing for your foray into commercial real estate is just as important as being a tough negotiator!

If you are interested in office suites for rent in Kansas City, give a commercial real estate broker in Kansas City a call at 913-685-4100!

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5 Ways to Improve Your Overland Park Office Space: Part II

If your New Year’s resolutions are waning, here are a few ideas from the article 5 Resolutions to Make Your Work Life Better Next Year to kick start your motivation again:

3.      Get Organized…and stay that way.  Everyone’s to do list covers getting and staying organized.  Help yourself stay accountable to this resolution this year by designating an “organizing buddy”—someone who will also resolve to get organized and will check in with you.  Organizing an office space will both help you work better and clear out some mental clutter for the New Year.
4.      Be a more considerate coworker.  Try to make 2014 a great year for everyone in the office by making an extra effort to keep your fellow workers in mind during your workday.
5.      Be “Work Happy.”  The most important resolution is to choose to try to be happy with your job.  You spend the majority of your time at work, so resolve to make the most of it.  The other resolutions are steps in that direction, but ultimately you have to choose to make your time at work worthwhile!

Any time of year is a good time to think about how you can improve your work habits and environment!

If you are interested in office space in Overland Park, KS, give us a call at 314-239-6396 to find out about our available affordable office space in Overland Park!

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CTI Solutions Southcreek Office Park Special

CTI Solutions: Digital Content Management  & Digital Signage Systems is offering a special deal to Southcreek Office Park tenants!  If your business needs conference room tablet displays with Outlook integration, you can receive a 10% discount on hardware and software fees!  CTI Solutions is a full service provider for digital signage systems and develops apps for mobile and tablet devices.  Here are some details on this exciting offer:

  • CTI Solutions can create for you a completely customized look and feel for your business meeting displays.
  • Tablet displays range in size from 7” – 21”.
  • Employees can manually input information onto the touch tablets.
  • Tablets can show scheduled meeting information from Outlook on tablet displays outside of conference rooms.
  • Displays can have border lit notifications for when conference rooms are in use.

Location: 4315 Merriam Dr. Overland Park, KS 66203

Phone Number: 913-831-3700 ext. 233

Email: milesw@cti-kc.com

Give CTI solutions a call for options and pricing!

If your business has been looking through commercial MLS listings in Kansas City and is interested in finding office suites for rent in Kansas City, give us a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available spaces!  Our location in Overland Park puts you near all of the amenities and services the Johnson County area has to offer and gives you easy highway access to the heart of the city!

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5 Ways to Improve Your Overland Park Office Space

Even if you did not quite stick to that list of New Year’s resolutions, there is never a bad time to think of ways to improve your office space!  Revisit that old resolutions list and think about adding some of these ways to improve your office, as listed in the article, “5 Resolutions to Make Your Work Life Better Next Year“:

  1. Update Your Office Space.  Once the stress of the holidays is over you will have a chance to breathe and take a closer look at your office design.  If you have the time, energy, and money to do a complete makeover, consider updating your office furniture.  Remember that your office design affects the work habits of you and your team.  A happier space means happier employees—which means a better bottom line.
  2. Celebrate holidays.  It might not be reasonable to throw large holiday parties, but celebrating holidays all throughout the year can bring an office together.  Bring some fun decorations and wear green on St. Patrick’s Day.  Have a short in-office egg hunt around Easter.  Having a little fun will boost morale and strengthen your company!

Sometimes simple changes can be all it takes to improve the overall quality of your workdays!

If you would like to learn more about office rental space in Overland Park, give a commercial real estate broker in Overland Park a call at 913-685-4100!

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Common Area Usage in a Shared Overland Park Office Space

If you have determined that you want your business will be sharing an office rental space with another similar business, you will want to discuss things like dividing costs and responsibilities, and who will be making big decisions for the space.  Another topic to discuss is the use of common areas in a shared space.  Here is some more information about this aspect of space sharing, as seen in the article, “What’s Involved in Sharing Office Space“:

Use of Common Areas.

Most shared workspaces have some space that is used by all tenants, even if it is just the entryway at the front of a warehouse.  It could also be much more than that, such as a reception area, storage space, office equipment, restrooms, conference rooms, and possibly even a kitchen area.  Regardless of whether you have a lot of common space or just a little, you will need to have a clear agreement about how each business will use the space and how much each will pay for this use.  There are a few different ways of determining how to split these costs.

  • Equally sharing the cost of the common space, regardless of how much overall space each sharer uses.
  • Pro-rating the common space cost based on how much overall space each tenant uses.
  • Pro-rating the common space costs based on how much common space each tenant uses.
  • Setting limits on the use of common area space so that tenants who want to use it must split or pro-rate the cost between users.

You will also want to discuss smaller issues, such as keeping the space clean, calendar use of conference rooms, and appearance of the space in general.

If your business has been looking at commercial MLS listings in Kansas City, give us a call at 913-685-4100 to find out more about office lease rates in Kansas City!

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Have You Considered Sharing an Overland Park Office Space?

Many small businesses lease commercial space, and often it is a smart business decision to share that work space with another business.  This can be a cost-efficient decision, and works especially well for businesses that regularly see clients or patients, such as lawyers, financial planners, or therapists.  It is a good idea when sharing a space to find a business whose needs are similar or fit well with yours, such as someone who is in the same or similar profession.

Regardless of what type of space you are potentially sharing or what kind of business you have, here are a few basic space sharing issues, as detailed in the article, What’s Involved in Sharing Office Space, that you might want to think about:

  1. Responsibility for the work space.  One question that will definitely come up is who holds ultimate responsibility for the space.  If you have joined with another business in finding a space to share, then you will most likely have equal responsibility from the start.  However, another potential situation is that one person owns a building with others either paying rent for their shared space or buying a share of the property to become joint owners.  If one business is joining a space that is already leased by the other business, then they need to discuss whether to become subtenants or primary tenants.
  2. Dividing Costs.  Regardless of whether the space is owned by a landlord, all of you, or just you, it is essential to discuss with your sharing partners who pays for what.  Since typically sharers use different amounts of space or use the space for different purposes, it is important to come up with a fair arrangement for who pays for what.  If your use is not equal in terms of time or space, you will need to come up with a fair payment arrangement that is also flexible, in case any of the parties’ needs change.
  3. Making Decisions.  You will also need to determine how to make decisions about the workspace regarding everything from appropriate operations to space decorations.  You might defer these decisions to the master tenant or owner if there is one.  But if you have equal responsibility or shared ownership, you need to discuss a system for making decisions together.

Sharing a space is can be a smart business decision, but it is important to communicate with your fellow tenants about things like costs and decision making strategies so that you clearly establish each party’s responsibilities.  Check back for the next post for more details on how to navigate use and cost of common areas in a shared office space.

If your business is considering executive office rental in Overland Park, give us a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available office space in Overland Park, KS!  We have a variety of available offices to choose from of many different sizes and layouts, and our Johnson County location puts your business near a variety of resources in the area!

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