You’ve probably heard that folks are leaving the big city downtown and moving to the suburbs. On today’s podcast, we’ll give you 12 reasons and tips for how to make the move! There is so much good about downtown – public transportation with light rail, restaurants, shopping, hotels, live/work/play, performing arts, museums, parks – why would anyone want to leave downtown?
There are lots of good reasons to be downtown in Dallas, Fort Worth and many other cities around the world. When you visit another city you usually head straight for downtown, right? While it is the right place to be for many companies, the suburbs may be the better choice for others. Some reasons/tips to consider are:
- Lower cost – rent, parking, commuting costs, company subsidizes these
- Spread out – possible lower cost may allow you to lease more space and spread people, a move gives you the opportunity to redesign the office regardless of where you move, you might even want to consider a different product type like flex or closed big-box store
- Closer to home – maybe, map out where employees live, less time in the car, save money and time, easier to recruit
- Closer to customers – maybe, map this out too
- Smaller satellite offices – if employees and/or customers are spread out, maybe your offices should be too
- Less time in elevators – shorter buildings mean shorter elevator rides or taking the stairs
- Easier parking – fewer parking garages, but out in the elements
- Amenities – give employees a reason to come back to the office
- Hire an architect – this will help assess your needs before you start the search
- Hire a tenant rep broker – especially in today’s environment, having a broker to represent you and your office needs is crucial. Lease are being changed in the way they’re written and you need an expert to advocate on your behalf
- Talk to your employees – be sure you know what matters to them
- Move with pros and get insured – just think of all the wasted productive time your employees could have had working instead of packing up and moving, workers comp exposure – leave this job to the pros, hire a moving company, make sure they and you are insured
Bob Gibbons is a Real Estate Advisor & Tenant Advocate (also known as a tenant rep) with REATA Commercial Realty, Inc. which is a tenant advisory firm based in Plano, Texas. Bob serves companies in Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Allen, Richardson, Addison, Dallas and the surrounding areas and specializes in companies which lease or buy office and warehouse properties.