Tag: Rental Data

Occupancy Cost

After obtaining information regarding the cost of tenant improvements, you should be able to estimate the cost of occupancy for your retail space. This will include rent, CAM charges, utilities and the amortized cost of tenant improvements.

CAM

CAM charges referred to comment area maintenance. Practice may vary from area to area, but in most areas this includes not only maintenance expenses but also the cost of taxes and insurance. Most leases for retail space include a partial or complete pass through for basic operating expenses, insurance, management, and property taxes. The landlord or leasing agent should be held to provide an estimate of these charges for your space.

Amortized TI

The amortized cost of your tenant improvements will be the cost over the term of your lease. To keep matters simple, if you are spending $60,000 to renovate your space, and your lease is for five years (60 months), include $1000 per month for the cost of tenant improvements.

Are You Paying Too Much?

Next research the occupancy cost compared to what others in your industry are spending. You may want to review occupancy cost on a dollars per square foot basis, percentage of sales basis and a dollars per month per location basis. If possible, determine what other similar businesses in your area are spending monthly for their total cost of occupancy.

Occupancy Cost Data Sources

Research the information available from industry associations and related publications for information on occupancy costs. It is sometimes referred to based upon dollars per square foot per year. It is more often referred to as a percentage of sales. If this is your first store, it will be difficult to estimate your sales. If you have other locations, you should be able to make an educated guess regarding the probable level of sales for this location.

Dollars per Month per Store?

In some cases, it may also make sense to review the cost of occupancy on a dollars per month basis. For example, if your existing stores tend to have a similar level of revenue, focus on locating retail spaces which meet minimal criteria and have the lowest monthly occupancy cost. Conversely, perhaps any store will have an excess amount of space for your real needs.

Rent per Month Example

For example, perhaps you operate a seasonal income tax business. During the peak of the season, there’ll only be two people in the store (you and your assistant). Based on previous experience, there are no locations which will provide the minimal amount of space you truly need. Further, since you are only leasing a modest amount of retail space for 4 months per year, landlords have not been particularly accommodating. Hence, a location which meets minimal criteria and has the lowest cost for the tax season may be your best option.

Criminal Activity?

Finally, research criminal activity in the area for the retail space you are considering. In many cases, it is apparent whether an area is likely on the low crime rate or high crime rate end of the spectrum. However, considering the investment of time and capital necessary to open a store, it would be very disappointing to learn your retail space was near a hotbed for criminal or gang activity shortly after opening.

Example

Consider the following example. A retail center in north Houston had been a prosperous shopping center on a major thoroughfare for 15 years. Shortly after hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, many evacuees from New Orleans settled in Houston. For whatever reason, a large number of New Orleans residents who were criminals located in the adjacent apartment complex. During the next 12 months, there were three murders on the retail center property. Occupancy fell from 80% to 30% because of the problems.

Crime Data Sources

Options for researching criminal activity within an area include online crime reports, discussions with tenants at the property, and discussions with police officers who are active in the area.

Online

In most cases, the information from the services will adequately address the issue of criminal activity near the retail space you’re considering. However, the most current and contextual data you’ll be able to obtain is from tenants at the property and local police officers.

Speak to Tenants

Tenants at the property where you’re considering leasing retail space can be a wonderful resource. They can provide information regarding crime in the area, tenants who have left the center, problems with traffic, problems with ingress and egress, problems with parking, and the trend in the center. Retailers within a retail center typically trade notes or visit with each other. Ask if business has been getting better, or is business declining for the businesses within the center?

Area and Property Criminal Reports

Area police officers are another excellent resource regarding criminal activity in the area. In most cities, you can obtain information regarding criminal records for any address. The records are public information. All you have to do is request the information and pay for the cost of copies.

Speak to the Source

In addition, in most cities the police are willing to visit with you if you are considering opening a business. Expect them to be very direct regarding criminal activity and trends in the area. It is possible they will discourage you from opening a store in a location you’re considering. However, is much better to not open a store in a poor location then to open the store and have to close the business.

The Market Research and Consulting division of OConnor & Associates provides information necessary to make decision to commercial real estate professionals. Occupancy and Rental Data, ownership and management information are routinely gathered for four major land uses multifamily, office, retail and industrial. This information allows investors to compare competitive properties, facilitate business decisions and track market and submarket performance.

Who Pays When Operating Expenses Increase?

Expense escalations are relevant when the landlord is paying a base level of expenses and when the tenant is paying expenses. With a typical gross lease, the landlord pays all expenses and the tenant pays expenses in excess of a base level. (Gross leases are atypical for retail.) The base level is typically the operating expenses for the year the lease is signed. The “expense escalations”, would be expenses in excess of this base level which the tenant is responsible for paying.
Caps on Increases?

Some leases also provide a cap on increases in expenses. To provide more certainty for the tenant’s cost of occupancy, the tenant may request that property tax increases do not exceed 5% in any year. Property tax increases can be enormous in some states. For example, initial property tax assessments in Texas for retail buildings have increased by 20% to 100% for many retail building owners. In many cases, these large initial assessments have been successfully reduced to a level much closer to the prior year’s value.
Cap Example

However, the property tax assessment process can be arbitrary at times. If the property taxes did increase by 20% or 100%, the landlord would be responsible for the increase in excess of 5% for the example given. There are also sometimes expense escalation caps for utilities, insurance, total expenses and other items.
Co-tenancy Termination Clause

A co-tenancy clause for retail defines a tenant’s right to terminate the lease if another tenant ceases operations. For example, consider a grocery anchored neighborhood shopping center. Let’s assume Kroger’s, a nationally known grocery retailer, is the anchor. Bob’s dry cleaner store decides to lease space in the center because it believes the Kroger versus will draw all a large volume of traffic. There’s an agreement to pay rent commensurate with the traffic which should be generated by Kroger. However, five years after the center is built Kroger decides to “go dark”.
Can You Terminate the Lease?

In other words, it ceases operations at this location. A co-tenancy clause would provide Bob an option to terminate his lease. There will typically be a defined period for terminating the lease based upon the co-tenancy clause.
Eminent Domain

Eminent domain is the right of government to take private property. Historically, eminent domain was limited to taking private property for public purposes. However, the US Supreme Court expanded eminent domain to include taking private property for private uses. In most cases, property owners are compensated for “takings” through eminent domain.
Eminent Domain Issues

Issues related to leasing retail space include who retains compensation for a leasehold estate, what happens if eminent domain takes an amount of parking which makes operation of the Senate set retail center impractical and are there any rent abatements during construction related to a partial taking of the retail center.
Leasehold Estate

A leasehold estate is a tenant’s interest in real estate obtained through a lease. A leasehold estate becomes meaningful when contract rent is substantially lower than market rent. Having the right to use retail space for a payment well below market rent has value. In the event of a complete taking up (when the government takes the entire retail center) the lease needs to address proceeds of the tenant’s leasehold estate. Do they belong to the tenant or to the landlord?
Partial Taking

In any “partial taking”, the government only takes a portion of the retail center. This may or may not include any portion of the building. For the sake of discussion, let’s assume a retail center with 10,000 ft. and 50 parking spaces. The 50 parking spaces are in two rows of 25. One row is along the street and one row is along the front of the building. The current amount of parking is just barely adequate. The condemnation will “take” the 25 parking spaces along the street. This leaves the property with only 25 parking spaces, or about half of what is necessary. The lease needs to define the rights and responsibilities of both the tenant and the landlord in event of a partial taking.
Pay Rent During Road Construction?

Consider addressing the payment of rent during road construction related to eminent domain. Most leases are silent on this point. In many cases, the loss of business due to construction is not compensated. The landlord must pay his expenses and mortgage payment during construction. The tenant’s sales often decline precipitously during construction. There is no easy answer to equitably address this issue.

The Market Research and Consulting division of OConnor & Associates provides information necessary to make decision to commercial real estate professionals. Occupancy and Rental Data, ownership and management information are routinely gathered for four major land uses multifamily, office, retail and industrial. This information allows investors to compare competitive properties, facilitate business decisions and track market and submarket performance.