The concept of an open office layout has been around for a long time but they have become more popular in recent years as companies who need optimal interaction while having a team-centered culture wish to enhance team participation and group engagement in the workplace.  An open office layout creates an environment where creativity is increased through an open line of communication with your peers.  These types of layouts are also said to increase creativity from the flow of ideas through an enhanced team setting.  Better yet, open layouts require lower amounts of square feet needed by a single employee and will allow you to cut costs by renting a smaller work space and using it more efficiently assuming you have ample parking.

Here are a few circumstances in which you may wish to implement and open office layout:

• Your staff is comprised of extroverts who enjoy communicating amongst one another to work collectively.
• Your employees aren’t involved in highly critical work that involves a high level of concentration or privacy.
• You don’t have a high budget for planning your office layout
• You plan to expand your business with the addition of more employees.  As long as you stay within your buildings parking ratio requirement, open layouts are more flexible for growth.

These are just a few examples of how an open office layout may be more fitting for both your wallet and company culture.  Visit our website here for more information about office design and helpful tips for calculating your space cost.

So, why the change?

The NW market might be a sign of a healthy Austin market.  Rates in the NW area are rising, meaning that landlords believe that their space is worth more and that their price is adequate for the demand they are receiving.  Another reason for this boom in the NW: as vacancy rates continue to fall across the Austin area as a whole, the NW market is really the only market that can withstand a large move-in at this time since many other areas have vacancy rates around 10% and only have smaller blocks of space available for lease.

Our advice for business owners:

If you are seeking traditional office space but are not overly concerned with being in the heart of the city and would like a more scenic surrounding, look into space in the NW.  Demand for this area continues to grow, meaning that we expect to see increases in rental rates.  Luckily, the NW market still has the product available to allow businesses to grow.

For more information on the NW Market, including an article featuring Austin Tenant Advisors’ own Nathan Smith, click here.  For more information on office space for lease in Austin visit our website or give us a call today at 512-861-0525.

Bee Cave, Tx just got its own Whole Foods retail center!  Today was the grand opening and man was it busy!  The foot print seems a little smaller than other Whole Foods as walking through the isles was very difficult because of all the people.  Hopefully it won’t always be that crowded .  I have never seen the parking lot of the Hill Country Galleria that packed.

Whole Foods doesn’t put a store just anywhere so that tells you their confidence in the growth of this city.  Residents in Bee Cave are excited about having the store here so I’m pretty sure it will do well.  Other retailers in the Galleria should also benefit and take advantage of the traffic that it will draw.

This is a win win for everyone in the Bee Caves community.  The city is poised for growth and having Whole Foods here is another step towards that goal.  Over the next few years I expect to see other popular retail stores follow suit.

At the end of the day, the overall goal when choosing to re-new your lease should be to have as much negotiating leverage as possible.  Tenant representatives not only know the real estate market, they serve as your chief negotiator in the leasing process.  They are working in your best interest to find you the best deal out there.  The landlord however, is concerned with what is best for them and could care less how much money you save on your lease.  More importantly, when a landlord gets a hunch that you are planning to re-new your lease without seeking alternatives, you have lost all leverage in lease negotiation.  By doing this, you are basically letting the landlord know that they have no competition in gaining your business and which gives them no incentive to work in your favor for lease negotiation.  A tenant representative will provide you with both market research and their negotiation skills to create competition for your landlord, keeping the ball in your court.  Best of all, tenant representation is free to you so can stay in your current office space, save money, and devote more of your time to your business.  What a concept!

A tip to business owners: If you are thinking of options for office space but are indifferent on whether to be in a traditional office, look into FLEX space.  We have seen numerous companies transform industrial space to give them the same amount of office flare as traditional office space. Better yet, FLEX space could save you 30-50% on your monthly rental budget in some cases while still meeting your office space requirements.

Listed below are some other rental rates for industrial space throughout the area.  For more information on industrial space or warehouse in Austin, give us a call at 512-861-0525

Austin Average- $6.78
Austin Warehouse Average- $5.98
Austin FLEX Average – $8.72

Cedar Park- $10.90
Central- $7.76
East- $6.07
Far Northwest- $7.92
Northwest- $5.87
Round Rock- $7.34
Southwest- $10.39

Other regional finalists include Pittsburgh, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Salt Lake City and runner-ups in the South region include Oklahoma City and Houston.

For information on Austin Office space for rent for your small business give us a call at 512-861-0525

The first scenario will deal with a building where the parking ratio is an issue.  Typically, parking ratios for office space range from 3.3-4/1000, meaning you are allotted this many parking spaces for every thousand rentable square feet you are occupying.

Example 1:

Square feet: 1,000
Employees: 4
Parking ratio: 4/1000
Result: You could lease this space because it meets the parking requirement

Example 2:

Square feet: 1,000
Employees: 5
Parking ratio: 4/1000
Result: You will need to lease more space in order to have enough parking

In some scenarios the parking ratio is not an issue.  This gives the tenant some room to play based on the layout of the space and in some cases will allow the tenant to fit more employees into a smaller space.  The average amount of space per person in an office with cubicles ranges from 175-250 square feet and 200-300 in a space with offices

With that said, a software company with space that will primarily be cubicles could fit in 5 or maybe even six people into a 1,000 sf office where the parking ratio is not an issue.

Likewise, a law firm whose office will primarily be hard walled offices will be able to fit 3-4 people in a 1,000 sf office based on the larger amount of space needed per employee.

For more information on calculating your space requirements or finding Austin office space for lease give us a call at 512-861-0525.