First Impressions of Office Space is Critical to Successful Leasing

Like anything we buy, we buy on first impression. It is widely known that a seller has less than thirty seconds to attract your interest or lose it all together. As a commercial real estate leasing agent for twenty years, I have seen well presented office space and not so well presented office space. In either case, I can tell if my client will be interested in a particular space within that first thirty seconds of walking into any suite.

There are several theories that landlords follow in getting a space ready to be shown. Some landlords will spec a vacant space out so that it is in move-in condition. They may re-carpet and paint, add or subtract walls and offices to meet a more popular office layout, re-lamp lighting fixtures and add electrical outlets. This clearly presents the space in a new and refreshing way; however, there are some potential downside risks. First, the landlord has spent upfront money on a layout and color scheme that may not be consistent with a potential interested party.

In a recent deal, a building owner installed a “taupe” color carpet and created two smaller offices out of one large room. My client loved the space but her furniture did not match the color of the carpet and she needed a larger conference room that required the two offices to be once again turned into one large room. The first impression clearly captured her interest to continue trying to make the space work, but the landlord ultimately replaced the carpet and enlarged the room, wasting the cost of the original new carpet.

Another way a landlord prepares a space is called “broom cleaned”. This is when all of the existing improvements are left in place but all of the furniture and debris are removed. With these types of spaces, a potential tenant’s first impression is of a worn out carpet, lights that may or may not all work, worn out paint and a layout that may have serviced the dot.com office market of several years ago but not the traditionally based tenant market of today. A good broker will quickly point out that the landlord will be willing to improve the space to meet the tenant’s needs. The problem with this strategy is that the landlord is making some assumptions about proposed tenants that may not be true.

First, the landlord is assuming that all tenants have vision to create and modernize an existing space in their “heads”. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard from tenants during a tour that they do not have such visions. Second, the landlord is assuming that since most space is shown that way, that the tenant understands that the space is worn out from past use and should not create a negative impression of the landlord. This is also questionable. Most tenants are moving because they want a new environment. A good percentage of tenants also move because they have become dissatisfied with the quality of property management at their current offices space. In order to remedy this issue a good broker and landlord will make sure that a newly renovated suite can be shown to show a “before and after” space that has been completed.

Finally, there are landlords that will do nothing to prepare the space for showing. Unfortunately, this is the majority of landlords today. Landlords will have surplus furniture and boxes left scattered throughout a suite, lights that are not working, windows that are left un-cleaned, broken blinds and even dirty dishes and cups from the previous tenant. Some landlords would even “cannibalize” spaces from ceiling tiles for other spaces leaving exposed holes for potential tenants to look at. In some cases, landlords will store excess furniture from other vacant suites and pile them up to the ceiling giving the impression you are in a warehouse not an office. Good brokers will push to insure that landlords do not take this approach when presenting vacant space, but unfortunately some landlords do not understand the importance of first impression.

First impression does not begin in the suite. It begins from the moment they visualize the exterior of the building and they walk into the lobby of the building. It is important for a building owner to make sure that their exteriors and lobbies are clean and updated as well.