Letting Office Space Made Easy
When landlords have office space to let they generally open their “Letting Office Space Made Easy” manual and turn to Chapter 1 Page 1: “Prepare for market”
- Refurbish ground floor reception
- Strip out partitioning
- Offer the floors in open plan. (N.B. tenants don’t like second hand meeting rooms, kitchens and offices. Although costly, they prefer to pay fit out companies to do afresh – even if this entails replacing perfectly good fixtures which were originally there)
- Don’t alienate with your idea of “tasteful colours”. Paint walls white.
- DO NOT carpet. Leave floors with nice shiny metal tiles.
- Take away suspended ceilings. You can leave ceiling mounted air conditioning fans and ducts fully exposed, even if this makes space resemble a trendy Soho restaurant!
Office Space Direct From Tenants
However, from a prospective tenant’s point of view, considerable savings can be made by taking space with an existing fit out. But if landlords routinely strip out space between leases, when might this opportunity occur? It probably comes as no surprise therefore that we are often asked to find opportunities where tenants (rather than landlords) are seeking assign or sublet their surplus accommodation. This can provide office space with a perfectly good tenant fit out – often available on competitive terms.
An excellent example can be seen at 55 Drury Lane, Covent Garden where the tenant on the 1st and 2nd floors is offering to assign their lease on 5740–11790 ft2 of air-conditioned office space at a passing rent (negotiated a few years ago) of only £37.50 per ft2!
The offices have an extensive tenant fit out, large refurbished ground floor reception, commissionaire, air conditioning, raised floors, and a basement with showers in addition to bicycle & car parking!
Office Searches Made Easy and Cost Effective
So when we begin a new Find a London Office search, we naturally research all available offices directly marketed by landlords, (and their agents), but we also look for space being marketed by tenants seeking to offload a surplus. Often we are able to find offices with the twin benefits of a perfectly good tenant fit out and considerable financial savings.
55 Drury Lane, Covent Garden
For more essential tips and advice, have a look at The Knowledge - and for answers to your questions about London office space, check out our FAQs.
Ian Kitchener
Ian has advised Central London office occupiers for over 20 years - fighting their corner and making sure they get a great office on the best terms. He has a diverse client following, often working with creative companies.
