Property Navigate

If you’ve got a business, you might be faced with the daunting prospect of having to find, rent, and outfit office space — all before you get up and running. And though that might seem like an unwanted prospect, there is an option available to you as a business owner that might be preferable. That is, rent a serviced office space instead of a conventional one.

A serviced work space has several advantages over traditional office spaces. Serviced offices (or “executive suites”), are already fully equipped, and are usually managed by a company that oversees these types of facilities (a.k.a. “facility management companies”). These organizations rent individual work space to other companies; these arrangements have advantages over traditional rental agreements. Let’s take a look at some of them. Continue reading ‘Why Serviced Office Space in Today's Market Makes Sense’ »

The commercial real estate market has been following the residential real estate market down the drain. It has been lagging by 12-18 months but is now in full foreclosure mode!

This will be much bigger than the residential situation we have seen over the past three years. Commercial properties are financed differently than residential. They typically have mortgages on them that balloon (need to be paid off) in 3,7, or 10 years. When these loans come due, they are typically refinanced. In today’s depreciating market, a lot of these commercial properties will not qualify for refinancing. The economy has prompted businesses to downsize or close putting more pressure on commercial property owners. Often rent reductions are given to attempt to keep tenants. Even with reductions, many businesses are closing their doors. Third thing is there are no government programs to help businesses keep their properties. (unless it is a bank or car manufacture!) Continue reading ‘Commercial Short Sales on the Rise!’ »

What should you consider if you are looking for new office accommodation? You probably know how much space you need, at least roughly, based on the number of staff who will be based in the office, desk share policies, densities and other facilities you need.

You have probably also assessed, to a greater or lesser extent, the ideal location for your new property and the style and quality. All of these factors help narrow down the search, but it is still likely that a search will result in up to ten properties on your shortlist, that can be reduced to three or five serious contenders. Continue reading ‘Use a Property Cost and Benefit Matrix to Help Choose Your Next Commercial Premises’ »

The most common problem in tenant mix strategy is lack of focus and relevance. As a common rule, identify your tenancy strengths and build around them and on them. To do this you need to respect and understand what the market and customer needs.

Shopping Centres

Tenancy mix becomes very important in retail premises of multiple tenants; that will be shopping centres of all sizes and types. A property that does not reach the needs or interest of a customer, is going to fail. Continue reading ‘Tenant Mix Analysis’ »

A New York City Local Law 11 inspection is not a do-it-yourself project. As described by the NYC DOB, one must be a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector (QEWI) to perform a Local Law 11 inspection. Section 101-07 of the NYC DOB’s rules of the department define a Qualified Exterior Wall Inspector as A New York State licensed civil or structural engineer with 1 year relevant experience or a New York State registered architect with 1 year relevant experience.

Relevant experience is also defined by the NYC DOB, which states that it is Direct participation and practice related to the underlying construction activities that are the subject of the special or other inspection where such participation has lead to accumulation of knowledge and skill required for the proper execution of the special or other inspection. Continue reading ‘Local Law 11 Inspections – Who Can Perform Them?’ »

In the past, a Local Law 11 cycle ran for a period of five years, however all the inspection reports for every building were to be filed and accepted within the first two years of a five year long cycle. This period of five years is known by the DOB as an “examination cycle”, and the first two years of an examination cycle was known by the DOB as a “sub-cycle filing window”.

Completing and processing all those reports within the two year long sub-cycle filing window was causing too much stress on the DOB and the industries that made the inspections happen. Therefore, starting with this upcoming Cycle 7, all the different building’s inspection reports will be due during one of three different sub-cycle filing windows. This will be determined based on the last digit of the building’s block number. These three different sub-cycle filing windows for filing inspection reports are now known as “staggered inspection cycles”. Continue reading ‘Local Law 11 Cycle 7 – Staggered Inspection Cycles (AKA Sub-Cycle Filing Windows)’ »