Looking for office space can be an intimidating process.

Looking for office space can be an intimidating process. St. Louis currently has over 48 millions square feet of office product, and a record 16.4% of it is vacant. To begin searching, an office tenant must sift through over 7.5 million square feet of available space, the equivalent of 130 football fields worth of office.

The sheer quantity of options makes it critical for business owners to hire a commercial real estate broker. The market is too big and the lease rates are too much in flux. In West County alone, prices range from $14 per square foot to $22 per square foot. Across the metropolitan area, prices range from $10 per square foot to almost $29 per square foot, depending on size, location and quality. As a business owner, how can you tell if you are getting a good deal with your office lease? How can you know if you are paying 20% more than the company across the street? How could you know if the landlord is charging you too much for operating expenses?

The common mistake that business owners make is they try to do everything themselves under the illusion that it will save money. Accounting, legal and real estate are three major services that business owners often try to do on their own. These services are time consuming, detail oriented and require a great deal of expertise. In this tough economy, business owners need to spend what little time they have focusing on what it is they do best – growing their business. A business owner shouldn’t spend valuable time searching for office space because there is so much information and so many variables that factor into it. Hiring a commercial real estate broker with the knowledge and expertise to sift through all of the details involved will not only save the business owner time, but it will also save money.

The best part about hiring a commercial real estate broker to either find your business a new space, renegotiate your current lease or purchasing a building to occupy, is that it’s free to the tenant! The landlord pays all the fees. Call a commercial real estate broker for your business’ real estate needs and you’ll find that having an expert conduct your search and negotiate your deal will give you the competitive advantage and market knowledge you need to find a great deal for your business. - By Tom Milford.
Tom Milford is a commercial broker for Savoy Properties. He can be reached via email at tmilford@savoyproperties.com or by phone at (314) 446-2904