By James A. Schnur, CCIM
President and Designated Managing Broker
Integrated Real Estate Solutions
Planning out the relocation of a company is an involved process. It’s easy to get stuck envisioning an idealized location, but before sinking valuable time and resources into your search, it’s important to step back and determine the needs of your business driving the relocation in the first place. Here are some of the most important details to assess when creating a plan for commercial relocation.
Your People
More than a name or a product, the lifeblood of a company is the people that keep it running. As such, the needs of your workforce will impact the viability of any potential location you scout for relocation. Consider the surroundings of a location—the cost of living, transportation, the community, surrounding school systems and businesses, etc.. All things being equal, presented with two identical opportunities, employees are more likely to value the option that provides them with a greater sense of safety, security, accessibility, and amenities. These outside factors will provide additional incentive when attracting potential talent to fill out your ranks, not to mention, it will ensure greater retention of skilled employees, reducing overall overhead costs for you.
Your Space
Ensuring day-to-day operations run as efficiently as possible relies on optimizing the space you work within. Determine what works within your current space versus what improvements would create your ideal working environment. Where can you make concessions, and what is paramount to your continued success? Space needs will vary drastically from business to business—a distribution space will need different considerations than a data center, as will a corporate setting versus a manufacturing floor. Determinations will need to be made around meeting spaces, adequate lighting, special equipment needs, displays, storage, and accessibility. In what kind of space will your workforce thrive? Will an open floor plan concept provide greater opportunity for collaboration and maximize the space available, or will it hamper concentration and create distractions?
This same level of attention extends to the exterior of your building and surrounding infrastructure as well. Consider the first impressions you want to impart on visitors and guests to your space. Will there be adequate parking, or is there public transportation nearby? Additionally, how are the immediate surroundings? Will there be potential for excess noise from nearby traffic or trains, or major construction in the immediate area? Is there adequate space to consider expansions? Many of these questions can be better assessed by consulting with a professional space planner or architecture in addition to your commercial real estate professional.
Your Budget and Costs
The most ideal location still needs to fit within your planned budget to be a viable option. Nailing down a budget will provide immediate insight on if it’s best to lease, buy, or build a property for your company. Each option comes with its own set of costs, as well. Leasing and buying are at the whims of availability and demand, whereas building delves in the costs of materials, permits, and labor, on top of the cost of land.
On the opposite side of the coin, there is a litany of incentives to consider as well, at both the state and local levels. Companies moving into a community are a boon, after all, and ensuring you have a commercial property professional who can navigate these options can provide you with the details on enticing tax credits, financing options, grants, and other incentive packages that can open up potential locations that seemed over-budget or out-of-reach initially.
Working with a commercial real estate professional is the best way to ensure that your business needs are taken into consideration throughout the relocation process. Integrated Real Estate Solutions has ample experience with corporate relocations, and our professionals are dedicated to providing you with solutions that make sense for your business.
Integrated Real Estate Solutions, Inc. provides clients with the in-depth knowledge and experience that is critical to determine the right path to your next move, lease renewal, or strategic repositioning of your real estate portfolio. Contact us or call 847.550.0160 today about your needs, and put our success to work for you.
