Say you are a landlord, and you want to lease your properties. What is the single most important thing you can do to secure a tenant? You can offer an enticing rent, or you can put together an Internet campaign or a direct mail campaign.
But according to Eliot Kijewski, SIOR, senior vice president, Cushman & Wakefield/CRESCO Real Estate, it’s in the way the property shows.
“You’ve got to have presentation,” he says. “It really needs to show for the next user.”
It may mean sprucing-up — not just a mop and broom, but a calculated and strategic effort.
Smart Business spoke with Kijewski about how to put your property’s best foot forward when on the market.
How should a property owner make office space to rent more presentable?
If the walls have an unappealing color, paint them. If they are a bright orange or a bright purple or the other tenant had some ugly wallpaper, you’ve got to take the time to clean it up and paint a neutral color.
I’m not talking about knocking walls down and changing the carpet. Just clean the carpet. Get rid of cobwebs. If you’ve got a ceiling tile that’s discolored, replace it. If you’ve got a light bulb that’s burned out, change it. It’s really the simplest things.
What should be done to an industrial property?
Clean the warehouse. Find out all the attributes of the space, if you are the property owner, to be able to answer a potential tenant’s questions.
Know your ceiling height, for example. The broker can help you determine all these things. Clean the space so it looks presentable, so it looks like you have been taking care of the property. That’s really how you get it to show, whether it is for lease or sale. You need to make somebody take a longer look at it.
Would a property for lease get special attention?
Yes, absolutely. With a lease, you are creating a relationship with somebody. You don’t have a relationship that ends when the transaction is final. You’re going to see or talk to this customer.
How much should a property owner expect to invest in making property look more attractive?
Properties that have been on the market a long time are properties that don’t show well to a potential tenant or buyer.
If you’ve got a multi-tenant building, you may want to think about building a model suite that shows different options of how it could look. If it is an office, you may have something with LED lighting, or you may have something with the new open office format that you could show to a potential tenant.
If it is an industrial space, again, LED lighting is a plus. You could show a variety of different heating systems. And you could show an epoxy-sealed floor in the warehouse — some people like that — it gives a nice, clean, brighter look.
If you do have overhead cranes, and you have an older style control on them, you may want to convert it to pendant style or radio-controlled operations. You may want to upgrade everything to 21st century or current professional standards.
Other than a good impression, what does a stellar presentation say?
You’ve taken the time to invest in the space, and you’ve also taken the time to reduce a tenant’s future expenses. The tenant is going to be responsible 99 percent of the time for the utilities. So you’ve taken the time to change that.
We’ve drawn interest in some of our industrial spaces where we’ve put down an epoxy floor and updated the lighting. We have leased space faster than the competition.
On the flip side, what should the tenant look for?
If you are a tenant looking for space, look for a landlord who cares. Look for somebody who’s taken the time and the ability to upgrade systems and really wants you as a tenant, or really wants to sell the assets for a premium dollar. ●
Insights Real Estate is brought to you by Cushman & Wakefield/CRESCO Real Estate
