Marta Skrzesińska
Phone (22) 185 31 84Efficient space
Our experience with customers looking for office space tells us that they are usually aiming at cost optimization and savings. Apt selection of office space affects the cost of rent, which is a noteworthy item in the budget of any business.
The main rental costs include rent for the office space, additional space (such as a storeroom or a file room), parking space, and service charges. Office buildings have also the add-on factor, which increases the area of the lease and determines the tenant's share of the cost of maintaining common space. And let's not forget the costs associated with office fit-out and furnishing of the workstations.
BOMA, TEGOVA, GIF, RICS, PN ISO
Office space and the add-on factor are themselves determined on the basis of measurements made according to different standards and methods. The most commonly used standards for commercial real estate include: BOMA, TEGOVA, GIF, RICS, and PN ISO. They are strictly defined and differ in relation to each other. Depending on the standard used, we obtain different sizes of the same surface. For example, BOMA includes walls in the rental space, while GIF excludes walls (structural columns), and Polish standards exclude all walls, both structural and partition walls. The rules of measurement are also different, for example the height and range of measurements, inclusion or exclusion of structural columns and other areas in the building.
SPACE EFFICIENCY
Regardless of the location and standard of a building, which are determinants of whether the rent is higher or lower, other important factors include space efficiency, a fixed add-on factor, and the level of service charges, which are mostly dependent on the technical solutions present in the office building and are not negotiable.
Space efficiency, which is different in each building, means that the same office layout will require different floorage in different buildings. Efficiency depends on the layout of the floor and the flexibility to divide it into separate office modules, as small number of elements impeding fit-out as possible, optimum distance between the façade and the building's core, without losses for excessively wide circulation area. It is also important to have adequate daylight and adequate window widths, which means easy division into tailor-made offices, and other technical specifications that allow the tenant to achieve the expected workstation density.
DIFFERENCE
With a difference in floorage of 30 sq.m and rent of EUR 15 per sq.m per month, the annual savings or losses will amount to EUR 5,400, and with a 5-year rental period will be as high as EUR 27,000. Those figures will be increased in connection with the applied add-on factor and the level service charges. In addition, they may be increased by the cost of fit-out.
This is where the consultancy offered by professional intermediaries, who have the tools to carry out a comparative cost analysis and identify buildings that are optimally suited to the tenant's budget and who can provide support during negotiation of rental terms based on their knowledge of the market, comes in useful.
WORKPLACE STRATEGY
Another issue related to the floorage of rented space is its use. According to various data, the average usage rate can be sometimes as low as 60-70% and is significantly lower in the case of conference rooms. This means that a large portion of the rented office space remains unused, which translates into unnecessary costs and measurable losses.
Workplace Solutions
Definition of the above phenomena was closely followed by the emergence of methods to handle them. Office space research and organization method known as Workplace Solutions uses a variety of cognitive tools, such as interviews with the tenant's representatives, employee surveys and business process observations, to enable customization of the space to match the actual needs.
Innovative Office – Hot Desks
Innovative Office solutions are designed to reduce the number of workstations and, therefore, the office space needed. The most commonly used solutions include hot desks (used by various employees on an alternating basis), increased open space, larger tea or coffee area, and specialized furniture to replace meeting rooms.
Summary
The smaller the floorage, the lower the cost of fit-out, while workstation optimization translates into cost savings associated with the necessary equipment, and flexible layout - into a reduction in the cost of any changes made. According to users of such modern offices, the above solutions are conducive to the integration of employees, but they require experience in change management.
The Office Department of Maxon Nieruchomości provides tenants with professional advice based on extensive experience, know-how and insight into the office rental market. We will present office buildings tailored to specific needs and propose a comparative analysis of the rental terms offered - we will organize and take an active part in the process of relocation or renegotiation of the existing rental agreement, which will relieve the tenant's administrative departments and enable to achieve the best financial results.