Do you ever wonder how you can reduce your office space costs by at least 30% to 50%? Are you currently leasing office space in a nice Class A office building however feel like your company really doesn’t need that kind of space? Would you rather be able to offer more employee perks and compensation so you can attract and retain great employees?
Consider leasing flexible industrial office space
If so you might consider leasing semi industrial or flex space (photo example on the right) which are typically found in industrial and business parks. What a lot of companies don’t realize is that while the outside of these types of buildings look kind of industrial the inside can be built out almost exactly the same as your class A office space. Yes there are companies that use this kind of space for warehousing needs however there are also others who use it for 100% office space use.
- Let’s say for example you lease 11,000 sf office space in a class A building in Austin, Tx. Your rent would be around $30 sf/yr or $27,500 per month (11,000 sf x $30 sf / 12 months).
- If you leased that same 11,000 sf in a flex/industrial building your rent would be around $12 sf/yr or $11,000 per month (11,000 sf x $12 sf /12 months).
- Total potential savings per month?……………………. $16,500
Now let’s keep in mind that in traditional office buildings electric and janitorial are typically included in the lease rates. So to compare apples to apples let’s add another $4 to $5 sf or $4,500 per month. Even then your monthly savings are $12,000 per month.
What can you use these savings on?
Well for starters you can spend it on employee recruitment and retainment. Many employees don’t really care about what the outside of the building looks like. What they do care about are employee perks and compensation. Types of things you could spend money on to make your employees happy and productive:
- Pay your employees more and offer more financial incentives for results
- Offer more employee rewards and promotions
- Give your employees the day off on their birthday
- Build out your office space in a cool funky way making it fun to be at work
- Spend money on amenties such as laundry rooms, gym, game room, shower and locker rooms, pool & ping pong tables, free yoga and crossfit classes, happy hours for the employees, etc…
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. This company in Austin did it and have been able to spend more money on it’s employees thus making it easier to keep and attract great talent.
