Southcreek News

3 Clauses in an Office Space Lease in Overland Park to Protect Your Business

If you are a new business, it is particularly important to really consider ways to protect yourself when you enter a commercial real estate lease. There are several different clauses you can build into your lease to do this, and here are three of the most common ones, as outlined in the article “How to Find & Lease Retail Space”:

#1 Exclusivity Clause

This clause prohibits the landlord from leasing a nearby space in the property to one of your direct competitors.

#2 Co-Tenancy Clause

This clause protects your business in the event that an anchor tenant leaves the property. An anchor tenant is a business that brings in a lot of customer traffic for other businesses in the property. If an anchor tenant leaves, the co-tenancy clause requires the landlord to replace them within a certain period of time, or else allow you to break your lease without penalty.

#3 Sublease Clause

In the event that your business has to leave the space before your lease term is up, the sublease clause allows you to rent the space to another business, which protects you from penalties associated with breaking a lease.

Think about the best ways to protect your business in various situations as you are negotiating your lease, and consider consulting a broker or an attorney for more advice on negotiating for these kinds of clauses.

If your business wants to learn more about executive office rental in Overland Park, give a commercial real estate broker in Overland Park a call today at 913-685-4100!

4 Ideas for Improving Wellness in Your Kansas City Office Space

In recent years, businesses have been taking steps to become more sustainable in their office spaces by recycling, improving energy efficiency, and instituting other environmentally friendly practices. However, sustainability has recently taken on another dimension–one that focuses on the whole being of the employees. Studies suggests that happier employees tend to be more productive, so some businesses are starting to seriously consider the health and well-being of their workers. Here are a few examples of what businesses have done to cater to their employees wellness, as suggested in the article “Designing a Better Office Space”:

1. Kitchens – many offices have started stocking pantries with healthy snacks for their employees, as well as creating events that take place in the office kitchen, allowing people to interact while making and eating meals.

2. Furniture – recent research suggesting the negative health effects of sitting for long periods of time have led many offices to redesign their furniture to allow employees to stand and stretch as they work. Some examples of these types of furniture include standing desks, or even treadmill desks for added exercise.

3. Outdoor Areas – some businesses are opting for offices situated near walking trails, giving employees the opportunity to get outside and walk and enjoy fresh air during the day, also opening up the option of using the trail as an informal meeting place to walk and talk with teams or other employees. Other offices are simply adding small outdoor areas to their office space where employees can step outside and relax for a moment.

4. Hybrid Offices – following the trend of creating relaxed, collaborative spaces, a few businesses are even creating hybrid office spaces that are connected to a coffee shop or some other area where employees can conduct their business or meet with clients in a space in a more creative and relaxing atmosphere.

If you are thinking about updating your office space or moving to a new one altogether, consider factoring in some of these wellness ideas to your design plan. Employees might welcome a more comfortable atmosphere and your concern for their health, and perhaps reward your business with their diligence and loyalty.

If your business is looking for a commercial space for lease in Kansas City, give a commercial real estate broker in Kansas City a call at 913-685-4100 to learn more about our available office spaces or to set up a tour.

4 Tips for Securing the Best Overland Park Office Space For Your Business

If you’re a new business hoping to lease an office space for the first time, there are a few steps you can take to break down this process and make it a little less overwhelming. Here are a few tips for finding and leasing the space of your dreams, as suggested in the article “How To Find & Lease Retail Space,”

#1 Determine Your Budget

The most important thing to do before you even start looking for a space is to determine your budget, because this will help you narrow down your options from the start. You do not want to start your search by looking at spaces that your business will not be able to afford.

#2 Calculate Your Space Needs

If you can come up with a basic idea of how much office space you need – an estimate within about 250 square feet – this will also really help you narrow down your options.

#3 Compare Your Options

Now that you have your general parameters, it is time to find around five spaces that you know would work for your business. Don’t limit yourself to just one space, give yourself these options and then you can compare compare the details more closely. Some important factors to consider are the size, cost, and location of the space.

#4 Negotiate the Lease

Once you have found a space that best suits your needs and budget, it is time to begin negotiations. This can be a tricky process, so you might consider seeking expert help to make sure you get the best possible terms.

Leasing a space can be an involved process, but a good place to start is by keeping these main steps in mind!

If you need to calculate square footage needs for your business, give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100.

Monthly Expenses for a Triple-Net Office Space Lease in Overland Park

If you’re looking to lease a commercial office space, one of the first things you have to do is plan your budget. In order to do this, it is helpful to know what your monthly expenses will be in an office space. Having an idea of the different fees and costs associated with a space can help you narrow down your options as you search. Here are a few things to consider, as outlined in the article “How to Find & Lease Retail Space.”

One aspect of your monthly costs is the different factors that contribute to your rental rate:

Location. Location has a major impact on the monthly rental rate of the space. One aspect of location is how close you are to central hubs of activity. An area that has higher customer traffic means higher rent, both in big cities or in smaller towns. Another aspect of location is the surrounding businesses. If there is a large anchor tenant on your property, you might have to pay more. Also, if you have a prime space near the parking area or facing a main street, You will probably have to pay more then if your space is less visible.
Quality of the Space. Another obvious factor is the quality of the space. A place that is move-in ready will be more expensive than a space that you will need to renovate or remodel, but be sure to factor in the cost of improvements and what the landlord will contribute to these costs.
Vacancies. A property that has multiple vacancies will probably offer cheaper rates then one with less available space. However, they’re in mind that if it’s a new property it might still be expensive even if it currently has multiple vacancies.
Length of Lease Term. If you’re looking for a longer lease, you are more likely to get a better deal on your rental rate. A long lease means more bargaining power, which means that you can try to ask for a reduction of your lease payment or or other costs. On the other hand, a very short lease, such as one year term, means that you have almost no negotiating leverage.

Factors that influence rent are not the only things that you need to consider when planning your monthly budget. Often there are a lot of other costs associated with your lease. These costs will depend on the type of lease that you have. Here are a few monthly expenses you should expect if you have a triple net lease, one common type of lease:

Utilities. As with any property, don’t forget to take into consideration utilities, including water, electricity, heat, sewage services, internet services, and any others. You can check with your landlord to see if they have estimates for these monthly fees, but if not you can always call the providers of these services to get a quote.
Maintenance. This is something that you should definitely discuss with your landlord upfront to make sure you know who is responsible for what elements of maintenance. You will most likely want to factor in heating and cooling systems repairs, lawn care services, snow removal and any other common issues you expect to encounter. You will also want to consider whether you have common area maintenance costs–fees to take care of spaces that you share with other tenants.
Taxes. In a triple net lease, you will be responsible for paying a portion of the property taxes. You should be about to get this information in advance either in the listing or from your broker.
Insurance. You will also have to pay a portion of the property insurance, and you can also get a quote for this from either the landlord, your broker, or a local insurance company.

Aside from the factors that affect your rent and your monthly costs, there is one more expense to factor into your budget as you look for space:

Broker’s Fee. Don’t forget to plan for a broker’s fee if you plan to work with the broker. There are a few different ways that brokers calculate their rates. Often they charge between 7 and 10% of the total cost of the lease. Another system would be charging you per square foot, which might also depend on the length of the lease term.

If you’re starting the process of looking for a commercial office space to lease, it is important to try to plan your budget before you even start looking. If you have a good idea of your monthly costs as well as what a broker’s fee will be, you can start to look at properties that are in your price range, rather than wasting your time and energy looking into spaces that you will not be able to afford.

If you would like to learn more about office lease rates in Kansas City, give us a call at 913-685-4100. We can also tell you more about our affordable office space in Kansas City, and you can even set up a tour!

4 Tips for Choosing an Overland Park Office Space Location

There are a lot of steps in finding the best commercial space for your business, and besides determining your budget and what you need in a space, location is another extremely important factor. Here are a few tips for choosing the best location for your business, as recommended in the article “How to Find & Lease Retail Space”:

#1 Safety

Obviously a main concern is going to be choosing a safe location, both for the benefit of your customers/clients and your employees. If customers feel unsafe, they are not going to want to visit your business, and employees need to feel secure when they enter and leave the premises, or you are going to have a difficult time recruiting and keeping staff. There are resources available, for example mylocalcrime.com, that can help you determine if the area where you are looking is safe.

#2 Accessibility

Make sure that you take into account what highways are near your space or if there is easy access to you through public transportation. This will make you more visible and guarantee that both customers and employees can reach you.

#3 Customers

It is important to know where your customer/client demographic is located and try to find a space near this target group or in a place that they will visit. Accessing government census information for an area online is one way to gather data on the population surrounding a space.

#4 Other Businesses

It is important to also take into account what other businesses are nearby. One thing you want to consider is whether there are compatible businesses near the space, which will make your location more appealing. It might seem odd, but you might also consider choosing a location near competitors, because this will guarantee that customers interested in your type of business will be passing through the area. This could be especially beneficial for your business if you are new and still working on building your reputation and attracting customers.

If you are interested in renting commercial real estate and you have already carefully planned your budget and considered your needs, considering the pros and cons of various locations can be a great way to narrow down your options!

Want to learn more about office space for lease in Overland Park? Give us a call at 913-685-4100 to learn more about available office suites for rent in Overland Park!

3 Ways to Motivate Employees in Your Office Space in Kansas City by Challenging Them

As someone responsible for a group of employees, figuring out how to engage and motivate them can be a difficult task. Often companies approach this by increasing social events or perks such as free meals, but some studies have suggested that employees are most satisfied with their work when they are being challenged to actually use their skills and abilities. Here are a few suggestions for ways to challenge employees who are itching for a new problem to solve, as suggested in the article “Want to Make Your Employees Happy? Ask Them to Do Something Hard”:

#1 Expand their current work. Don’t overload your employees with a bunch of new and different tasks, instead assign them more complex work that builds on the work that they are already doing.

#2 Apply their experience in new ways. You might also challenge them to step a little outside of their comfort zone by bringing their skills and experience to a related but different area. They might bring a fresh perspective and enjoy working with a new problem.

#3 Challenge them with the unfamiliar. If an employee is really looking for a challenge and is prepared to handle it, consider putting them to work on something that they are entirely unfamiliar with, but you know they will be capable of working through. An employee who really wants to grow might be grateful for the opportunity to expand their skill set.

A big part of successfully challenging employees is knowing their interests and boundaries, but if correctly done, these kinds of challenges can be rewarding for you and your staff!

If your business is interested in commercial realty in Kansas City, give Kathy Woodward at DDI Commercial a call at 913-685-4100!

14 Elements of a Small Office Lease in Kansas City

Figuring out how to lease an office space for the first time can be a detailed process, but it does not have to be overwhelming. When you approach an office space lease for the first time, here are a few components of the lease you should be prepared to consider, as outlined in the article, “How To Lease Commercial Real Estate”:

Fees. Most properties will list their costs on a square foot basis either by year or month. However, it is important to know that your usable square footage – the space you will actually conduct business in – is different than the full amount of space you will be charged for. This is because you will also have to pay for usage of common space in a property – this combination of usable space and common areas is called rentable square footage.
Types of Leases. Note that there are different types of commercial leases which will determine exactly what you pay for each month and how responsibilities are divided between you and the landlord. It is important to research which type of lease you have in more detail, but some common types of commercial leases include percentage leases, net leases, and gross leases.
Landlord vs. Tenant Responsibilities. This will be partially determined by what type of lease you have, but it is important to make sure you clarify exactly who is responsible for what, including maintenance and repairs of HVAC units or other major appliances.
Lease Term. This is an element of a lease in which landlords and tenants are often at odds. Tenants typically prefer shorter term leases so that they are not stuck in a space, but also with plenty of options to renew or expand in case they do want to stay and maybe add on a nearby space. But on the other hand, landlords prefer longer leases so that they do not have to replace tenants every few years. This means that if you are planning on a long term lease, you might have a little negotiation leverage with a landlord.
Build Outs. If you need to somehow alter or renovate a space, this needs to be clearly negotiated upfront. Determine what changes you are allowed to make and who will finance these changes. Again, if you have a longer lease term, a landlord might be willing to contribute more to the cost of building out a space.
Rent Increases. Landlords typically plan rent increases around the consumer price index. Increases are known as “escalations” and you should be fully aware of what these entail before signing your lease.
Personal Guarantee. This is not a pleasant part of the lease for a tenant, but you will most likely have to sign a personal guarantee to lease the space, which holds you personally responsible for rent if your business is not able to pay. Landlords also like to do background checks on your personal finances to determine whether you will be good for the money. These typically are most important at the beginning of a lease, and you might be able to negotiate to have your personal guarantee expire after part of your lease.
Exit Clause. If you do get in a situation where you need to terminate your lease, you will want to make sure you have determined a plan for this upfront, which means trying to negotiate for smaller termination penalties, for example, only a few more months of rent payments.
Subleasing. It is always a good idea to try to negotiate for the option to sublease your space, which can really help your business if you need to move to another space or if you cannot pay rent.
Assigning the Space. A more extreme option than subleasing is assigning a space to a new tenant altogether in the event that you need to move out. Some landlords do not allow this, but it is good to ask about in negotiations.
Exclusivity Clause. If a big part of your customer base is foot traffic, you might want to try to negotiate for an exclusivity clause, which means that a landlord cannot lease nearby spaces to your competitors.
Co-Tenancy Clause. Some properties have anchor tenants, which bring in a lot of foot traffic and can be a major selling point for smaller tenants to rent nearby spaces. If you know you are going to be dependent one of these anchor tenants to increase your business, try to negotiate for a co-tenancy clause which allows you to break your lease without penalty if the anchor tenant leaves.
Start Date. It is important to make sure that your business is fully prepared to take on the responsibilities of the lease by the start date, which might mean that you need to ask for a start date that is different from when you sign the lease.
Security Deposit. What a landlord asks for this can vary greatly from space to space, so it is important to be ready to negotiate this point.

Consider these factors as you search for an office space!

If you are interested in office space in Kansas, give a commercial real estate broker in Kansas City a call at 913-685-4100 to learn more about our available spaces!

The Pros and Cons of a Virtual vs. Real Office Space in Overland Park, KS

The traditional versus alternative work environment has been debated a lot recently in the business world. The trend of alternative spaces and a more mobile workforce has been rising, but many believe that the traditional office space is not going away anytime soon. Here are some of the different perspectives on virtual versus real office spaces, as described in the article “Virtual Office? The Office is Back, Was it Ever Really Gone?”:

Virtual/Alternative Offices

In this era of mobile technology, the idea of having a virtual office is been gaining a lot of traction. A 2011 study revealed that 86% of businesses are implementing some sort of alternative workplace strategy, and another 16% of these businesses had immediate plans to implement some sort of alternative workspace. The benefits of strategies such as home offices, mobile work, or having shared workspaces that employees alternate using is that businesses can save on real estate and employees feel like they have a better balance between life and work.

The Traditional Office Space

While virtual offices offer a lot of benefits, they are only a part-time solution for most employees, and only a small percentage of employees actually use these strategies. Many still believe that the best way to interact with coworkers, access technology and tools, and productively solve problems is through face-to-face communication in an actual office space.

While technology and a growing interest in collaboration are changing attitudes about office space today, the importance of face-to-face interpersonal communication still preserves the value of having a real office space.

Is your business looking for office rental space in Overland Park? If so give us a call at 913-685-4100 to find out more about our affordable office space in Overland Park.

4 Ways Going Green Promotes Productivity in an Office Rental Space in Kansas City

It is no secret that the physical features of office space can have a direct impact on employees, specifically improving or hurting their mood and productivity levels. Discomforts such as stuffiness, noise, and depressing lighting can all contribute to workers feeling lethargic in an office space. Here are five ways a more green office can positively impact your work environment, as suggested in the article “Is Your Office a Downer? Five Green Design Secrets of Best Places to Work”:

#1 Bring in the Plants

Studies suggest that human beings connect with living things, including plants, an idea called biophilia. This means that live plants that are clearly in view can help reduce stress, improve creativity, And even based cognitive function among your employees. Having clusters of plants around the office also visually breaks up the space and makes it less monotonous.

#2 Where’s the Sunshine?

A lot of traditional workspaces only allow senior executives to enjoy sunlight in their offices, but sunshine can affect a whole office by making employees happier and even leading to better sleep, which is always good for productivity. If it is not possible for employees to sit by a window, even just taking a walk outside during the day can provide a boost.

#3 Good Air

Another thing that affects productivity is the quality and temperature of the air in an office space. Research suggests that high levels of carbon dioxide and other harmful compounds can make employees sluggish. Studies have shown that increasing ventilation can actually improve employee performance, as can ensuring an office space maintains a comfortable temperature, because too hot or too cold can also adversely affect productivity.

#4 A Balance of Spaces

Noise can also be a type of pollution that negatively affects employees. Well open office plans and more collaborative spaces tend to be great things for employees and also positively affect productivity, it is important that workers also have quiet places to go when they need to work independently. Having a separate spaces for collaboration and quiet work can reduce stress and allow employees to focus more efficiently on their tasks.

Recent research on office environments provide so much valuable insight into worker productivity. Consider implementing some of the simple ways to boost your offices mood and performance!

If your business is interested in office suites for rent in Kansas City, give us a call at 913-685-4100 to learn more about our commercial space for lease in Kansas City.

Redecorating Your Office Rental Space in Overland Park on a Budget

If you have done some spring cleaning already and are thinking that your office space needs a little sprucing up, remember that there are plenty of redecorating possibilities that will not break the bank. Here are a few suggestions for cost effective changes, as outlined in the article “Spring Cleaning Your Office”:

#1 New Paint

Simply adding a fresh coat of new paint can brighten up a space and make it feel like new. You might even consider using chalkboard or whiteboard paint on a blank wall to create a space for brainstorming and collaborating.

#2 Talk to a Designer

If you feel really lost about how to design an office space, consider consulting an interior designer to get some guidance on how to best work with your space. Talking to a designer once could help you make some effective changes to a space that will last for years.

#3 Update the Old

Instead of buying new furniture or office decorations, consider just updating what you have. This can be done by simply adding new fabrics, which can introduce interesting new colors and textures to a space.

Don’t overspend on office space design when there are so many effective yet inexpensive ways to give your office a facelift!

If your business is interested in office suites for rent in Overland Park, give a commercial real estate broker in Overland Park a call at 913-685-4100 to find out about our available spaces!