What do you look for in an office (executive suites)?

[etherealfocus]

...I ask because I run an office complex as a side biz. Figured I needed an office anyway and I'd rather get paid than pay for it. 19 executive suites, all about 120sf. We've knocked out walls to combine offices for a couple bigger tenants (4-8 people) but most are still singles. Fit 2-3 people comfortably depending on layout.

So far most of our business is a split between home biz graduating to their first office (which is unfortunately a bit flaky, had to let a Mary Kay lady out of her lease a few months ago because she couldn't pay) and blue collar contractors - roofing and fencing guys especially love us for offering short term leases, but they're usually only in for 3-6 months.

I'm trying to appeal to a bigger, more stable crowd.

Good news:

-offices are only $400/mo all bills paid
-short term leases available
-free wifi and private VLAN hardline internet included (2 ports per office)
-PoE supported for VoIP phones
-Good noise insulation; you'll almost never hear another tenant
-24/7 access: tenants get a front door key, security door combo, and private door key
-24/7 HVAC
-good vetting. everyone goes through a thorough background check before they get a key.
-plenty of parking
-Free access to meeting room (suitable for 6-8 people) and break room with fridge, Keurig, phone charging station, etc
-Free basic IT help for all tenants, on a next-time-I'm-in-the-office basis (usually I'm in 3 days a week)
-Generally friendly cooperative atmosphere

Bad news:

-Aesthetically meh. It's functional but not fancy.
-Better for people who want a quiet work space than for people wanting to meet lots of customers.
-Only the front office (350sf) has exterior windows, but a few of the interior offices have hallway windows.

Right now I've got 6 offices I'd love to fill up. Would be interested to hear if you guys have any ideas for increasing my competitiveness or hitting niche markets. It's a university town (Denton) so we've already done some marketing and promo rates for students, profs, and tutors... no takers though, think they get plenty of space from the universities.

 

[shortylickens]

Lots of outlets that actually work and dont ignite fires all over the place. Ditto the light fixtures.

 

[lxskllr]

Those offices sound really small. The amenities sound pretty good, but at that size, I'd be inclined to stay in my house. Dunno what the market is for that.

 

[SKORPI0]

Are you kidding, 120 sq.ft. is an executive suite? That's less than 11'x11' per side. My bedroom is 2X that area. Looks more like a storage room. 😵

Example.

 

[Kaido]

Those offices sound really small. The amenities sound pretty good, but at that size, I'd be inclined to stay in my house. Dunno what the market is for that.

It is small, but having worked from home in times past, having any kind of an away-from-home office is nice to have. The two biggest issues of working from home being self-discipline & family support...if you are good about shifting into work mode & staying there at home, and if you have a supportive family environment (assuming you don't live by yourself or have crazy roommates), then working from home is great. Fortunately I am central to my state & don't have a need to rent out an office for my freelance IT work, but one of my co-contractors has one nearby that we use for work & meetings as needed because it's a lot less hassle.

Then again, I know other freelance guys who literally work out of Starbucks, so...yeah.

 

[etherealfocus]

Shorty- Everything works, and we're replacing the flourescent lights with LEDs as they die. Color temp just a hair on the warm side by preference of tenants. I have an electrician check everything yearly to avoid surprises.

lxs- We have a staffing agency, a roofer, a fence guy, an events planner (she has the 350sf front office and the 3000sf events area with private kitchen), a CPA with two adjoined offices, a video producer, and had a Mary Kay lady and a small graphic design company (three guys and their iMacs fit in a 10x12 space pretty comfortably) until recently. Mary Kay lady ran out of money and the graphics company disbanded when the owner got a FT job with another company. ...Just off the top of my head. The roofing company has I believe 3 people as well. And again, we can knock out a wall and combine offices on request, which is what I did in my office.

Skorp- That's actually fairly close to my layout except offices are either 10x12 or 9x13 and I've got more offices. There are several other office companies around DFW with similar offices... you can get virtual offices cheaper and in nicer buildings in Dallas, but there aren't many options in Denton. Competitive offerings within about 15 miles of me? There's one company that's cheaper but they're at capacity last I checked. Other companies charge significantly more, but have nicer buildings as well. There's a market for both... I've got 13 offices of my 19 filled and almost nobody leaves in favor of a bigger/nicer office elsewhere so obviously we fit some kind of niche. 🙂

Kaido- Yup. I have to have an office regardless - legitimacy, employee space, equipment storage, etc. Most of the companies I have are also legit businesses, and that's what I'm trying to attract more of. I'm happy to work with the transition office crowd, but they are more likely to flake on a lease.

On the flip side, I've heard plenty of horror stories about my competition not being willing to let people out of a lease when they have personal problems. I use a TX Realtors Association standard lease just to cover my butt, but I still let people out or let them pay a bit late long as I trust they're being honest with me. And I've gotten a lot of appreciation for the free IT help too - you and I don't care about that stuff but it's pretty nice when you're a roofer trying to figure out what's wrong with Quickbooks.

So: what else could I offer to get out ahead of the crowd? I'm making regular aesthetic improvements but we're never gonna be pretty. We've got ample internet and if it ever gets cramped, capacity is cheap.

Right now I'm making decent money on the space, but filling it up would be an extra 6*400 = $2400/mo so that's my motivation level 🙂

 

[IEC]

Offer a small referral incentive to your existing clients if they refer someone to you and that person qualifies as a tenant and leases for 6 months+. Word of mouth tends to fill spots quickly.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Trade shows? You might run into people looking to establish a presence in the area.

 

[kranky]

Competitive offerings within about 15 miles of me? There's one company that's cheaper but they're at capacity last I checked. Other companies charge significantly more, but have nicer buildings as well. There's a market for both... I've got 13 offices of my 19 filled and almost nobody leaves in favor of a bigger/nicer office elsewhere so obviously we fit some kind of niche.

This might be a long shot but can you google the addresses of the competing sites that are more expensive, in order to find out who rents there? I'm assuming those renters would use that address as their listed business address. Then you could reach out to them to show your competitive advantage (lower cost, free IT help, whatever). Maybe you could steal a couple.