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Feng Shui Your Office Space

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Feng shui is the ancient Chinese way of arranging items in your life to promote positivity and good energy. When incorporating feng shui into your life, it is important to understand the basics of obtaining a positive feeling and motivational energy in the workplace. Here are a few tips when setting up your office space.

  • Clutter Free Feeling – When designing your office space, consider designing the desks to hold multiple organization units, such as filing space or an area for multiple binders or other organization systems. Keeping the office clutter-free is the first step to improving overall positive energy and productivity within your office.
  • Placement Screams Potential – Placement of your desks within the office is one of the most important aspects to positive feng shui within your space. This would include having your employees all face the door at an angle or from the side. Moving the desks to this placement will promote positive energy as a client walks in the door and makes the employees feel included when anyone enters the building, as you would if a person enters your home. It would give you the opportunity to welcome them, as well as control the situation at hand. Thus, making your employees feel powerful within their space.

When designing your office space keep some of these factors in mind to promote a positive energy for all who enter your work space. Looking for office space in Chicago? Check out TenantAdvisors.com, today, to learn more and look at local listings.

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Office Leasing: Understanding Rentable vs. Usable Square Footage

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photographer-349921_1280When you lease commercial property to be used as office space, your future landlord will mention terms such as rentable square footage and useable square footage when speaking about the rental cost. As opposed to having a single rent figure, these square footage calculations are used to determine just how much you’ll pay for your office space.

In the same discussion, common area costs will come up as well. Commercial tenants not only have to pay for the space that they use alone but also share the cost for maintaining the common areas with other tenants. The calculations may be a bit intimidating at first, however, with the right background information and a good tenant representative by your side, you’ll be able to figure out the details in no time.

What is Useable Square Footage?

When you want to calculate useable square footage, this will be the figure relating to the amount of space which you actively use. For example, your useable square footage is the square footage of your single office within an office building, if you lease an office space of this type.

What is Rentable Square Footage?

Rentable square footage is the amount of space which will include your office but also the restrooms, closets and other areas.

What is the Common Area Factor?Office Lease Renewal

The common area factor is the amount of space which is shared by all office space tenants. This will include bathrooms, cleaning closets, lobbies, copy rooms and other shared sections of the office building. There are two main types of common areas: floor common area and building common area. The floor common area is the amount of tenant common areas which are located on your floor while the building common area is the part which everyone within the building shares. These two figures are added up to equal the total common area factor.

How Do These All Add Up?

Calculating the square footage figures can be difficult for new office space tenants but tenant representatives are well-versed in these types of calculations and will gladly help you to calculate the figures with ease. The basic calculation is rentable square footage = useable square footage x (1 + add-on %). The add-on percentage can be calculated this way: rentable square footage/useable square footage – 1. The add-on percentage is sometimes substituted with a common area factor percentage and you can determine which percentage your prospective landlord uses simply by inquiring with them.

These factors show that there is much more to commercial office space rent than just a flat figure. There are distinct calculations which go into determining commercial office space rent and these figures will dictate how much you pay for an office space you use as well as common areas which you share with other tenants. Understanding these figures is much easier to do when you have a tenant representative along with you for any and all negotiations. Your tenant representative will explain these factors in layperson terms and help you out with any questions which you may have along the way.

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The Difference between Renting and Leasing Office Space

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When choosing office space, most business owners think about the location or the interior design. However, one of the most fundamental questions to consider when approaching the decision is whether to rent or lease. While many people think of these two terms interchangeably, they are actually very different arrangements that can have an impact on your business.

A rental agreement is typically a month-to-month contract that is renewed automatically at the end of the month unless the landlord or tenant specifically says otherwise. By contrast, leasing office space is a longer commitment, usually with contracts for six months or a year. Leases are not automatically renewed, but they can be renegotiated or changed to a rental agreement.

A rental agreement provides more flexibility. However, rental agreements are also subject to change. This means that the landlord can raise the rent or change other factors of the agreement at any time. Since a lease is a longer commitment, the terms cannot be changed throughout the duration of the contract, which provides increased stability.

Although the month-to-month contract may appeal to business owners for its flexibility, the unpredictability of these contracts can make it hard to plan ahead. Moreover, if the terms change unexpectedly, the property may become unaffordable or impractical. For this reason, many businesses will benefit from leasing office space for their business goals.

Office Space Negotiations

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Commercial office space lease terms can be lengthy, especially when compared with their residential counterparts. However, there always comes a time when a lease term is up and it’s time to either renew or look for a new office space in which to relocate. Landlords are often in a better place at this time since they know that it’s no easy task to get up and relocate your entire business. Therefore, negotiating terms is often on the side of the landlord. With that said, this doesn’t have to be the case, especially if you show signs of interest in moving to a new location.

Look Around at Other Office Space Leases in the Area

When the time comes to renew your lease, you don’t want to be scrambling trying to find possible alternatives to your current location. You should know what other options are out there in case you and your landlord cannot agree on favorable lease terms with a new lease. Also, by checking out the other alternatives, you are letting your landlord know that you are not 100% set on renewing the current lease, which may make the landlord more likely to offer new lease terms which are more favorable to the tenant in the leasing contract.

Discuss Future Lease Arrangements with Current Landlord Well in Advance

Another easy way to show your current landlord that you may, or may not, be renewing your lease with them is to sit down with your landlord and discuss the future lease terms. Before you commit to a new lease with your current landlord, you want to be sure that this will be the best move for you and your company. If your landlord feels as if you have no other option but to stay in your current location, they will be less generous with the lease terms which they offer. You don’t want to be put in that position so be sure to get a feel for what your landlord will be offering if you decide to renew your commercial office space lease.

Utilize the Services of a Tenant Representativechicago office space listings

An additional way to let your landlord know that you are searching for other accommodations is to hire a tenant representative. When you utilize the services of a tenant representative, your landlord knows that you are not just going to settle for any and all terms which the landlord offers to you and you will be fighting for the best tenant-oriented lease terms possible. Your tenant representative can help out, no matter whether you decide to renew your current lease or venture out to find a new location in which to set up your company.

As a tenant, you still have flexibility when it comes to getting the best possible lease terms in a renewed lease. Just be sure to explore all options and don’t let your landlord believe that you will automatically renew your lease for lack of any other options as this will not help you to obtain the best lease terms should you choose to renew.

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Office Space: Tips For Obtaining A Flexible Office Space Lease

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chicago office space listingsCommercial office space leases are often long in lease term length and strict with regard to getting out of the lease prior to the lease term expiration. Many business owners who are eager to lease office space feel as if they have no choice but to accept the lease terms as-is and just know that they must accept a lengthy lease if they want to gain office space. This is not always the case. Although landlords may be the ones to structure the lease, the lease terms are not ones which are absolute. There is always the option to negotiate lease terms and make them more flexible for the benefit of the tenant. The following will offer some tips for obtaining a flexible office space lease.

Request a Shorter Lease Term

Just because the initial lease terms are on paper doesn’t mean that you can’t request a shorter lease term. Many landlords will opt for longer lease terms as it ensures that they will have a tenant in place for years in the future and provides them with security. However, there are times when the landlord may agree to a shorter lease term. You may have to pay a bit more for an office space lease which is shorter than a 5-15 year range, however, if you need the flexibility with regard to length of the lease, it may be worth paying a bit more to obtain such flexibility.

Ask for a Renewal Clause

Suppose you feel as if you will want to stay in your office space for many years to come and don’t want to risk being forced out when your lease term expires. The easiest way to gain security in this regard is to request that a renewal clause be added to the leasing contract. This will give you a documented right to renew your lease should you desire to do so in the future. It’s always good to have this type of safeguard in place and absolutely have it in writing.

Assignment and Sublease Options

There may come a time during the commercial tenancy where you have to vacate the lease ahead of the expiration of your current lease. Having assignment and sublease options in the contract will ensure that you will be allowed to assign or sublet the remainder of your lease term without penalty.Oak Brook

Inclusion of a Termination Clause

As with the prior section, should you need to move your business out of the leased office space prior to the conclusion of the lease term, you want to be able to do so without being penalized. Sometimes business owners don’t want to be responsible for subleases or assignments and this is where a termination clause will come in handy. Request that this lease term is also added to the contract and it will provide a flexible option for you as a commercial office space tenant.

Office space leases don’t have to be strictly structured nor do they have to benefit the landlord alone. Request that terms be included within the lease which will safeguard you as a tenant down the road.