Kathy Woodward DDI Commercial | Southcreek

Common Terms in an Office Space Lease in Overland Park: Part II

As you enter negotiations for an office space lease, you will want to have some idea of what clauses you can expect to find in the lease. Here are a few more common lease terms that you will typically run across:

3. Use Clause. The use clause defines how you will be able to use your space. Limitations might include what kind of business you will conduct, what products or services you will sell, or even something as vague as the quality of your operation. Landlords might impose these restrictions for a few reasons:

The landlord is worried about liability issues for certain types of businesses.
The landlord has made agreements with other tenants to not rent to competition.
The landlord dislikes certain kinds of business activities.

You will want to try to avoid these restrictions as much as possible; in the best case scenario, your landlord does not include this clause at all.

4. Exclusive Clause. This is a promise by the landlord that states that you are the only business in the mall or building that may carry a certain product or engage in a type of business. If you have this clause, it means that other tenants will have clauses that forbid them from conducting business that would violate your exclusive clause. Typically the most powerful “anchor” business in a building gets these exclusive rights.

Do a little research and be prepared to be a savvy negotiator for your business!

If your business is looking for Kansas City office space for rent, give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100!

9 Ways to Save On Energy Expenses in Your Office Rental Space in Kansas City: Lighting

Saving energy is about more than just joining the green revolution; it can also be a big money saver for your company, and is just a responsible business practice. Check out this series of tips on how to reduce energy—and some expenses—in your workplace:

Tip #1: Flip Those Switches.

Lighting makes up the highest portion of a company’s electric bill, and another 4-5% of that bill goes towards counteracting the heat that light bulbs generate, so lighting is a good place to start reducing your energy inefficiencies.
Turn off lights at the end of the work day and the start of the weekend. If this is a difficult task to remember daily, then consider motion-detecting lights. These also help keep seldom used areas from eating up energy, and can be a good asset for a building’s exterior as well, keeping people safe, but not using more energy than necessary.
The best and cheapest form of light is, of course, the sun! So open blinds and doors and consider installing a skylight or two to take advantage of natural light. Be sure to do this only during times of the day and year when heat buildup from sunlight won’t cause cooling problems.

Making a few of these simple lighting adjustments can save your company money in the long run—and give you the satisfaction of being a green business.

Give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100 to find out more about our commercial realty in Kansas City!

Chiefs Tickets for Sale through Southcreek Office Park

If you are looking to get to some football games this fall, check out the opportunity in the Southcreek Office Park newsletter to purchase season tickets for the Chiefs this fall. Here is some more information about these available tickets:

Club level – 4 great seats for 10 home games
Seats are in section 202, row 3, seats 9-12
Parking in Gold Lot (M)
The owner is willing to sell 2 or 4 tickets for the games – each with a parking pass
Seats are $276 each, parking passes are $45 each
Total for 2 tickets + parking pass = $597
Total for 4 tickets + parking pass = $1194

The following games are still available:

vs San Francisco 49ers – 8/16/13
vs Green Bay Packers – 8/29/13
vs Houston Texans – 10/20/13
vs Cleveland Browns – 10/27/13
vs San Diego Chargers – 11/24/13
vs Indianapolis Colts – 12/22/13

You must pay in full with cash/cashier’s check, or via PayPay by credit card (but the buyer incurs PayPal fees). If you are interested, please contact Jill at Jill333 [at] aol.com!

Give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100 to learn more about our available Kansas City office space for lease!

9 Ways to Save On Energy Expenses in Your Office Rental Space in Kansas City: Thermostats

Commercial office buildings are a major source of inefficiently used energy—which means inefficiently used money being spent by your business. Help reduce wasted energy and make sure your company’s energy expenses aren’t higher than they should be by checking out some tips on how to save energy at the office:

Tip #6: Consistent Temperatures

Thermostats can be a source of struggle in an office, so agreeing on average temperature for each season and maintaining that temperature—even if it means locking the thermostat control—is one way to eliminate that conflict and increase energy efficiency. Be aware that you might still run into complaints from employees, and it is important to be sensitive to discomfort as much as possible, especially if any employees have thyroid or hormonal conditions that increase their temperature sensitivity. Encourage employees to wear layers, make sure there are accessible sweater hooks, have cool and hot water available, and make other little efforts to keep everyone comfortable.
You might make maintaining temperature a little easier by installing a programmable thermostat, which will adjust the temperature automatically at different times of day. No need to heat or cool the office when everyone is at home. Turning the thermostat up or down 10-15 degrees every day for 8 hours can cut heating and cooling costs by almost 10%.
Regularly inspect your heating and cooling systems to make sure that they are running efficiently.

Being aware of small ways to cut energy costs could save your business quite a bit of money in the long run!

Give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available business space for rent in Overland Park!

6 Ways To Be A Savvy Kansas City Office Space Lease Negotiator: Part III

Here are a few final tips to negotiate the best lease for your business:

5. Build in clauses to protect your business. You might consider looking into and negotiating some add-on clauses to your office space lease to protect your interests in the long run. Here are a few add-ons you might consider:

Exclusivity Clause – this prevents a landlord from leasing other properties on the premises to your direct business competition.
Sublease – the ability to sublease gives you flexibility if you find your business plans change and want to sublet your space.
Co-tenancy – a development might have an “anchor tenant” (i.e. a known retail brand), and a co-tenancy agreement protects you from losing customer traffic if that tenant closes by allowing you to end your lease if the landlord does not replace that tenant within a certain time period.

6. What happens if you default? Look into what happens to your tenancy if you default. Will you be closed down without notice? Immediately locked out? Check on these details up front and see if you can negotiate more time for your business if you default, or only pay the month’s rent owed instead of the rest of the money owed on the lease.

An inexperienced negotiator might not be aware of all of these details involved in negotiating a lease, so doing a little research can help you be more prepared to negotiate the best possible lease for your business.

Looking for executive office rental in Overland Park? Give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available spaces!

6 Ways To Be A Savvy Kansas City Office Space Lease Negotiator: Part II

Don’t let your business be hurt in the long run by a poorly negotiated lease! Study up on some ways to make sure you are on top of your negotiations:

Expenses
Just as in the case of residential leases, landlords for commercial real estate often add extra fees for maintenance, upkeep of common areas (CAM fees), and other costs. You might want to check out utility costs, which are usually the tenant’s responsibility, but find out how these costs are measured. Are they individually metered or based on square footage? Ask your landlord about these “hidden fees” and other policies, plus see if he or she can show you examples of expenses usually incurred by tenants.

Maintenance and Repairs.
In residential leases, maintenance and repairs is usually the responsibility of the landlord, but commercial leases do not function this way. Approaches to this issue vary: some commercial leases state that property repairs and upkeep are the tenant’s responsibility; others stipulate that tenants pay for the upkeep of systems such as plumbing, air conditioning, etc. Check your lease to figure out who is responsible for these various costs, and also to see if there is a limit on how much a tenant might have to pay for repairs and maintenance. It might be helpful to consult an attorney about your legal rights for these clauses.

Do your homework so you know what you are getting yourself into in a lease!

Give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100 to set up a tour of a Southcreek commercial space for rent in Overland Park!

Dealing With Operating Expense Cost-Pass-Through for an Overland Park Office Space

Basic cost-pass-through information: Make sure you know whether the starting point for your lease is an expense stop or an operating expense cost-pass-through, and what calculation method is the norm for your market. Depending on your area’s market, the base year for your cost-pass-through could either be the first year of your lease or the current year, and either the calendar year or fiscal year. Your lease might include an expense stop that stipulates that you pay for any costs above a certain point—if this is the case do a little research to make sure that your expense stop is current so you do not get stuck paying any unexpected additional fees.

Cost-pass-through protection: Operating costs for a partially occupied building are significantly less than for a full building, so you will want to factor this into your lease writing if you are moving into a new or partially occupied building. Add a little protection to the cost-pass-through provision in your lease by requiring your landlord to base the calculation of your annual cost-pass-through on a 90% or 95% occupied building. A provision like this will protect your business in the event that you move into a building that takes a while to lease up.

Looking for office suites for rent in Overland Park? Give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available spaces!

6 Tips for Renting Commercial Real Estate in Kansas City: Part III

Here are a few final tips to keep in mind while searching for a new office space for your small business:

5. Understand your market. It is so important for you as a tenant to be educated and to look at a lot of spaces. There are a lot of terms and nuances for small business owners to understand, such as renewals, termination rights, escalator clauses, and more—and these things can be favorable for your business in the current economy if you know how to negotiate them. It might be worth considering finding a good broker or attorney to help you with this process.
6. Investigate your potential landlord. You will want to check into the creditworthiness of the landlord—are they in any kind of trouble? Restructuring loans they can’t pay? In this economy, you need to be careful and make sure you know a little about the financial health of the property owner you are renting from.

This is a really good time for small businesses to be looking for new office spaces, and opportunities like this might not be around again for a while. The market is in transition and landlords are anxious to fill their properties, so now is a good time find space. Do a little research and put yourself in a position to find yourself an attractive deal!

If you would like to learn about office lease rates in Kansas City, give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100!