An industrial facility is management intensive and can be a source of significant profit. A commercial building which is situated in the correct area has the potentiality to generate huge cash flow from the beginning. However, high returns mean higher risk and in a market of high volatility, an industrial facility is the first one to be affected. When the economy faces hard times, the industrial facilities are the first to go because employers either gets relocated to home offices, cut the workforce, or close the business.
The design of an industrial facility is very important to emerge as a winner in such hard situations. You should also make sure that the location and cost of your commercial property should match the requirements of tenants. Nowadays, there are several other factors – like functionality, flexibility and responsiveness – which affect the decision-making process of tenant. In case of building renovation or tenant improvements, the services from a renowned construction management company can be availed.
In recent time, there has been a change in the requirements of tenants. The landlords are working hard to design their industrial facility according to the requirements of tenants. Some of the features tenants prefer nowadays are:
Flexibility
As businesses are changing rapidly, flexibility is what every tenant of commercial property seeks. They are looking for spaces which can be adjusted to meet their present as well as future needs of business. It can be anything from buildouts to movable walls.
So, the landlord should focus on marketing the place as flexible. No matter if the furniture is already placed there, the landlords should provide service of space-planning where it is shown different ways to customize office and configured according to the needs of tenant.
Open Space
Today, the designs of offices are all about flexibility, shared spaces and efficiency. Tenants prefer offices with high-density with lot of open space, communal areas and lesser number of private offices. This helps them to make their operations more efficient.
This has resulted in shrinkage of private office’s space. Today, the sizes and types of private offices is depending upon the tasks to be completed. That’s the reason private offices are becoming smaller or getting replaced with common spaces. This decreases the rental cost and the employees are encouraged to work together in the centrally shared space.
Business being taken care of
Whatever be the business, the tenants nowadays want landlord to solve their problems quickly. Whether the concerning thing is secure environment, nearby restaurants or comfortable and clean workplace, tenants want landlord to solve them quickly.
So, the landlord should bear the attitude of give-and-take and their tenant’s concerns should be taken care of. The various features landlord should focus on are:
- Security: There are some tenants who are not much bothered about security and some are very much sensitive about issues of security. The latest developments attracting tenants are key cards and these are the single cards which can be used in parking as well as accessing the building.
- Amenities: Amenities are not the biggest factor but somehow matters. A service or a group of services such as banking, food services, gift shops, health clubs, etc. can make a great impact. Although tenants don’t want to be disturbed with food-preparation smell but a nearby or ready access to food is vital.
- Redundant Power: As the sophisticated technology is increasingly used, tenants have started demanding multiple sources of power. The landlords should get the industrial facility with 2 separate grids. If one goes down, the other one should provide immediate backup power. For some small outages, even generators prove to be helpful.
- Operations and Management: Tenants do not want any kind of problem in the working environment. Everything from elevator speed to office temperature should be properly working and if any problems occur, they should be resolved quickly. So, a landlord should take care of these issues especially the issues involving ventilation, air conditioning, cleanliness, heating and elevators.
Decision-making intangibles
Beside all the facilities, a tenant also looks for the owner with good and stable reputation. If there are two commercial buildings with similar facilities, then the tenant will most likely go for the building which has a history of stable ownership.
The landlords should always note that it is not necessary a good reputation will help them but they should remember that a bad reputation will definitely do bad for them. Another factor which matters to tenants is first impression. A good impression will lead the tenant to lease your property whereas a bad first impression will surely cost you because the tenant has plenty of other options.
Improvements
It is not necessary that the first impression of a landlord will always affect the tenant’s decision. Before that, the first impression of the commercial building’s exterior may prevent the tenant from leasing your property. The commercial property should not have a low-quality finished exterior and a halfhearted landscape. Fortunately, there are many industrial construction companies or commercial general contractors who can help you renovate the complete exterior to achieve a significant building. If it is about saving the cost, then the following methods can be looked forward to:
- Replacement of windows and doors: The doors or windows which are poorly constructed or outdated should be replaced. The appearance of an office building will be dramatically changed and also save energy costs occuring due to HVAC system.
- Landscaping investment: Most of the office buildings start with professional landscaping but after some time couldn’t continue. So, a professional landscaping is best and it is often reasonably priced.
- Signage updating: As office signs are vital for all the employees, prospects and clients, so the interior as well as exterior signs can be replaced to give a unique new look to the property.
- Increased security and parking: The parking lines should be repainted and any cracks in pavement should be repaired. Cameras, mirrors, alarm systems, etc. should be added. All these features help the tenant to feel safe and these decrease your premiums of insurance.
Always remember that these are only few of the designing and improvement ideas to attract tenants. No need to implement all these ideas in one go, take the decision according to your budget and needs. You can also ask the prospective tenants for any improvements. This way you will get good idea about most essential designs and improvements.
