Tom Koelzer

Sublease and Assignment Clauses in Commercial Leases

by Tom Koelzer with No Comment Uncategorized

Commercial leases can be a bit overwhelming when it comes to understanding their contents, especially for the novice commercial office space tenant. However, there are certain clauses to be on the lookout for within the lease which will dictate how you can engage in your tenancy. The sublease clause and assignment clause are two clauses which you will often find in a commercial office space lease. These two clauses let the tenant know how they can occupy their tenancy and whether or not anyone else may come into possession with their permission. Here are some things which you as a commercial office tenant must know about sublease and assignment clauses:

What Is The Difference Between a Sublease and an Assignment?

There are distinct differences between subleases and assignments in commercial leases. A sublease is when the office space tenant transfers only a portion of their office space lease term to another. On the other hand, in an assignment situation, the office space tenant transfers their entire interest in the remainder of their lease term to another individual. Some landlords will allow one, both or neither. It basically depends on the individual landlord and oftentimes what the current area trend is with regard to assignments and subleases in commercial leases.

What Do The Sublease and Assignment Clauses Contain?

The sublease and assignment clauses contain all of the factors surrounding these two types of tenant transfers. In general, the clauses will either state that the tenant is allowed to sublet or assign the property during their tenancy or that they must refrain from doing so. Some commercial real estate clauses pertaining to these issues may take the middle of the road approach and allow the tenant to do one or both of these transfers but with restrictions.

Are These Clauses Negotiable?

Sublease and assignment clauses are usually negotiable items in the lease. It never hurts to inquire with your future landlord as to whether or not you can change the terms within the sublease and assignment clauses. A tenant representative can help you to make this request and provide valid arguments for why certain changes or requests should be granted.

Must You Follow These Sublease and Assignment Clauses?

Once the sublease and assignment clauses are in the commercial office space lease and the lease has been signed, they are permanent fixtures of the current lease. Therefore, you must follow the guidelines listed in these clauses. These sublease and assignment clauses not only benefit the office space landlord but also the tenant by detailing how the tenancy must be carried out during the lease term.

Sublease and assignment clauses are commonplace in commercial leases. The terms of assignments and subleases will vary depending on your individual lease. Before you sign your commercial office space lease, make sure you read the lease thoroughly, especially the assignment and sublease clauses if you intend to transfer any part of your tenancy during the lease term.

Negotiating Office Space Renewal Options

by Tom Koelzer Uncategorized

When you settle into your new office space, you may not initially think of the time when office space renewal will occur. However, time often moves quickly and before you know it, your office lease will be up for renewal. Sometimes business owners want to move on to a new location while others love where they are leasing and want to continue doing business in their current locale. For the latter group of individuals, there will come a time when negotiating office space renewal is at hand. Here are some options with regard to negotiating office space renewal and such options may make the renewal process take place in the smoothest manner possible.

Do Your Research With Respect To Current Market Trends

When you renew your commercial office space lease, you may be able to get a better deal on the future lease than your initial one. Current market trends may make it easier to negotiate commercial office space leases and you should research these trends to see what the current market looks like when it comes to real estate leasing for businesses.

Have a Tenant Representative Help Out

One of the best ways to make sure you are covered when the time comes to negotiate office space renewal is to have a tenant representative with you for the negotiation process. A tenant representative knows what the real estate market is doing and will make it easy for you to negotiate office space renewal. They not only lead you in the negotiations but will help you to negotiate in the best manner through proper planning and tactics. A tenant representative is your go-to real estate representative when it comes to commercial office space leasing.

Consider the Current Office Space Leasing Market

The current office space leasing market must be considered before negotiating the renewal of your office space. If the current market regarding commercial leasing is struggling, then you as a commercial office space tenant may get the best deal at the time. However, if there are plenty of tenants willing to lease office space in your local area, the lease costs may be a bit higher.

Use Your Past Positive Leasing Status to Boost Your Future Lease Options

Let’s face it. Commercial office space owners and commercial office space tenants both benefit from renewing an office space lease. There is no need to go through initial lease negotiations as would occur with a new tenant, the landlord doesn’t have to repaint or make renovations to the property and if the tenant was a prompt paying tenant, the owner will love this factor as well. Therefore, if you were a good tenant, chances are that the negotiations for the office space lease renewal will go smoothly.

Negotiating a renewal of your office space lease doesn’t have to be a tedious venture, especially if you use a tenant representative throughout the process. Before you go into any type of negotiations, make sure you know what you want to ask for, that the requests are reasonable and that you have a tenant representative by your side.

Shared Office Space Chicago

by Tom Koelzer Uncategorized

Leasing office space in Chicago is a desirable goal for many professionals. You may be interested in renting office space in Downtown Chicago but not have the need for a single business office space setting. This is where shared office space comes in handy. Shared office space enables you to lease a private office or two but have access to many shared amenities with other tenants in the building such as receptionist services, mail services, conference room availability and more. Finding the right type of Chicago office space is easy to do when you know where to look and what type of office space to look for overall.

Choose a Chicago Location Which Suits Your Business Needs

Searching for a Chicago office space lease location takes time, especially when reviewing the various shared office space options. You want to pick a location which suits your business needs. If you are a professional business, you want to locate a shared office space where other tenants focus on similar types of business. However, if you have an industrial variety of business, make sure that your shared office space is along the same lines as this type of business. Shared office space works best when all tenants are involved with similar lines of work, i.e. professional services, industrial businesses, etc.

Select Office Space Amenities Which Boost Your Business

When Chicago business owners lease shared office space they have the opportunity to acquire shared office services as well. These amenities make doing business a whole lot easier. Some of the service amenities which business owners can acquire via shared office space include receptionist services, conference room reservations, mail service, tech services and more. Rather than having to pay an employee to complete these services for your business, when you lease shared office space, you will have access to these amenities as a benefit of your lease, although some locations may charge a bit extra per month for certain added extras.

Calculate Office Space Needs Properly

Another thing which will help you to find the ideal Chicago Loop shared office space is to make sure you calculate how much office space you need. This helps in the search by allowing you to zone in on the right properties and ensure that the office space that you lease is neither too small nor too big. Consider factors such as your current employee base, line of work, whether you want individual cubicle spaces within the shared office space or open areas and more. When you calculate your office space needs properly, you will find that choosing the right office space location is an easy task to achieve.

Finding Chicago shared office space to lease is a wise choice for many businesses these days. It offers business owners options of sharing office amenities and paying less for the lease than they would have to if they chose to lease a single office space or entire building for their company. If you want to locate shared office space, the downtown Chicago area is the prime location to search.

Commercial Office Space For Chicago Startups

by Tom Koelzer Uncategorized

Chicago startups have a lot on their plates when it comes to getting their businesses up and running. These new business owners have to think about staffing their entity, getting their products and services in order and compiling a client base. Another extremely important factor for Chicago startup business owners to think about is where they are going to lease office space. Leasing office space is a wise choice for startups in Chicago as they can pay as they go and have the option of moving should they find that the location they select does not suit their needs. With that said, there are two locations in Chicago in particular which are popular with Chicago startups.

River North

River North is a popular neighborhood for Chicago startups to choose when they are eager to lease office space. This area is located north of the Chicago River and in close proximity to Michigan Avenue and the Loop. Retail shops, galleries and design firms are all over the River North area. The eclectic atmosphere of River North provides a great way for Chicago startups to not only gain clients through their own marketing means but also get new clients simply by making their presence known to those who are in the River North neighborhood for other reasons as well.

Startup business owners also like the River North area for office leases as it has a variety of office spaces available. Whether you need a single office in a high rise building or want to rent out a small commercial building in its entirety, either option can be found in River North.

West Loop

Another ideal neighborhood for startup business owners in Chicago is West Loop. Situated between the Chicago River, Ashland Avenue, Grand Avenue and Eisenhower Expressway, West Loop is an extremely popular place to open up one’s business. This rapidly emerging neighborhood of Chicago offers residents and visitors a little bit of something for all. Retail boutiques, restaurants, galleries, commercial offices and residences are all present and accounted for in West Loop. No matter which commercial genre your startup belongs within, there is a place for you and your business in West Loop.

The beauty of the West Loop neighborhood is that those who go there don’t just visit the area for one particular reason. They may come into the city and West Loop, in particular, for a bite to eat, do some shopping and take care of some business as well. There are plenty of office space leasing options in West Loop and the price ranges are reasonable for city office space, also.

Chicago startup company owners have a lot to manage with their new business. This process can be made much easier by knowing where to set up shop. Whether you like the River North vicinity or prefer the wide array of amenities which West Loop has to offer, your Chicago startup will fit in perfectly within either Chicago neighborhood. Startup companies find it easy to make their new commercial home in either West Loop or River North.

Chicago Office Space Listings

by Tom Koelzer Uncategorized

Chicago-area business owners know that location is essential when choosing where you want to set up your business. Picking the wrong location for your office space lease can be detrimental to business owners of all types. This is why there is a lot of research which goes into leasing office space in Chicago. In order to help business owners locate that perfect piece of commercial property to lease in Chicago, there are companies and websites which cater to commercial business leases.

Tenant Representation Firms

There are companies which aid commercial tenants known as tenant representation firms. Tenant representatives, or “tenant reps” help business owners with a wide array of leasing features. These innovative companies will help business owners find commercial real estate to lease, help them to secure the commercial real estate lease and guide them every step of the way.

One top-notch Chicago area tenant representation firm is Tenant Advisors, Inc. The employees of this reputable tenant representation firm will help you to locate the right commercial office space lease for your business, help you to understand the commercial office lease, guide you in your dealings with the future landlord and will be only a call away should you need anything during your lease term and beyond. Whatever your commercial office space leasing needs may be, Tenant Advisors, Inc. can help.

LoopNet.com Offers a Wide Array of Commercial Real Estate Lease Listings

LoopNet.com is a popular commercial business leasing website. Business owners can review Chicago office space listings in various neighborhoods throughout Chicago. By using LoopNet.com, Chicago office space lease seekers can designate which amenities they would like their leased offices to have, how much space the leased office will consist of and other specific features. Those who use LoopNet.com can also look through properties which come fully furnished as well as those which are empty and business owners would provide their own furnishings. No matter what type of office setting you want to lease in Chicago, LoopNet.com is a good place to start.

CoStar.com Helps Business Owners by Providing Chicago Lease Options

In addition to LoopNet.com, CoStar.com also offers great options for office lease seekers. The CoStar Company powers a website, Showcase.com, and allows site visitors to search through commercial property listings of Chicago office space. On this website, business owners can narrow down their search by selecting the area in which they want to lease office space, how much square footage they need, the amount of money they want to spend on rent and more. Also on the site you will find contact information to the realtors and leasing agents who are handling the office space lease. This provides you with easy access to contact those who can show you the office space as soon as you are ready to see it.

Rofo.com Leads the Way to Office Space Leases in Chicago

Since you want to explore your leasing options as much as possible, it never hurts to have access to quite a few different commercial office space listing sites. Rofo.com is another great commercial office space marketplace listing website to peruse. On Rofo.com, site visitors can pinpoint office space leases in various areas throughout the city of Chicago. On the individual listings, one will find information relating to the exact location, square footage, rent amount and nearby amenities. Within no time at all, you can find out exactly what your leasing options are in the area of Chicago which you want to be in.

No matter what commercial lease listing site you choose, LoopNet.com, CoStar.com or Rofo.com, you will gain insight into a wide array of options for commercial office space leasing in Chicago. These websites give you the freedom to outline your specific leasing needs and zone in on particular leasing options which suit your leasing needs perfectly. Regardless of the square footage you require or the amount of rent you wish to pay, you will find plenty of options on these commercial office space leasing websites for properties in Chicago.